


Strange Waters

by puddinpotato



Category: Far Cry 3
Genre: ! - Freeform, Action, Adventure, All the genres, Multi, Pirates, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-26
Updated: 2015-06-11
Packaged: 2018-03-25 21:37:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 96,612
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3825934
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/puddinpotato/pseuds/puddinpotato
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Benny is a woman with nothing left to lose, so when she see's an opportunity, she's quick to grab it. But will she be able to hold her own against Vaas and his band of misfit miscreants? Multiple OCs. All the warnings. Pre-Far Cry 3 events.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Well This Is Quite the Pickle

**Author's Note:**

> Well, hola there peeps. A word if you will. I posted this some time ago on fanfiction before some peeps recently encouraged me to post it here as well. They raved about this site and its benefits and so here I am. Wrote this back when female ocs were more prevelant than Vaason, can you believe it ;) But I'll say this now, it's not an OC/Vaas story. This is in fact, a multiple OC story. There's, what was it, six of them, along with a couple slaves, a prostitute, countless side characters. Yup...needless to say I was watching a lot of Lost when I created this thing so yeah multiple ocs, subplots and twists and turns. For now let's start slow, introducing our main main OC Benny, not to be confused with minor character Benny in the Far Cry 3 game. K...think I'm done rambling. Please enjoy.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Far Cry 3 (dammit) or Vaas (dammit) but I do own Benny, so yay me.
> 
> Warnings: First chapter so, swearing. That's about it. The first few chapters are a wee slow but I guarantee you will be entertained.
> 
> (I'll post the first few chapters today, see how things go...sorry oc/vaas fans but hey, he's here at least ;) )

 

XXX

Strange Waters

Chapter 1

Well This Is Quite The Pickle

XXX

"Hello everyone," Benny announced into the screen of her video camera. "It's me again. Long time no see." She smirked and brushed a long wavy lock of brown hair behind her ear, examining herself in the screen, making sure her eyeliner wasn't smudged and that her hair was in place. Her smile was pleasant but dark green eyes told otherwise. "As you may know," she continued, placing her elbows on the table, fingers twiddling together, "my life's been a little, hm, shall we say, blah for a while. The past few videos have been anything but glamorous I mean, what can I say? Same shit different day." She brought one hand down to the table, thumping her thumb on the wooden surface and biting her lip, eyes casting down to the side. She thought. "I'm gonna be completely honest with you people, I'm starting to lose my grip here. It's been, how do you say, hectic without being hectic. My mind's fucking gone but yet, I've still been sitting in the same old place doing the same old thing. It's enough to drive a person fucking crazy." She chuckled, sitting back in her chair, a chain holding a small set of brass knuckles lay against her chest. "But since when have I been called otherwise?"

Green eyes struck the camera and she smiled. "I've seen the comments you fuckers. But take into consideration the fact that a year ago, you didn't know a single thing about me. And then when I let you guys in on little snippets of my life you get the balls to call me crazy." Another chuckle and she shook her head, leaning in towards the camera. "You gotta be fucking kidding me!" Her eyebrows rose with wonder at the invisible audience before her, the one that would eventually see her video and leave her the same old comments they had been for the past 11 months. "Fucking kidding me," and she lent back again in her chair.

Benny rubbed at her chin with her index finger, once again staring off to the side of the room, coming up with something to say next perhaps. Her eyes focused on the hotel door and to the one bag of luggage at the foot of the queen sized bed. _Too big a bed_ , she thought shaking her head _, but at least I get some elbow room now._ She inhaled deeply and let it out with a whir of her lips. "I don't even know why I'm doing this." She reached across the table, behind the camera, and grabbed a pack of cigarettes, digging one out of the near empty case and depositing it between her lips, then reached into her jeans pocket for her lighter, and lit.

Perhaps making this video was a big waste of time. After all, though there were many that were entertained there were still the douche bags and the assholes and down right cunts trying to preach to her what life was all about, what her mistakes were, what she should have been doing. Maybe starting a video blog in the first place was a bad idea. She never took too kindly to people telling her what to do. And though she enjoyed being in the lime light, advertising her life was beginning to be more of a downer than an upper these days. She normally enjoyed the arguments and snarky comebacks but, like she had said, same shit different day.

The smile returned, her burdened like demeanor quickly turning to perked up and happy. "So here I am...in freaking Bangkok!" She laughed, taking another drag of her cigarette. "Can you fucking believe that shit?" She sniffed and took another drag. "I followed some leads, talked to a few people and here I am. Am I having the time of my life? Haha, well, maybe soon I will. It's not home but...then again, that place never really did feel like home. I mean," another drag, "wandering around has been, well, second nature to me. Would I like to find that special someone and maybe settle down? Heh, what girl hasn't had that fantasy hm?" Her perky demeanor drooped a bit and she once again started thumping her fingers on the table. She bit her lip.

"I met a guy last night," a small smile followed. "He told me he may know of a place, off the map...might just be the break I've been looking for. You know me, never satisfied."

A moment of silence followed as her smile quickly faded again and she cast her eyes downward, sighing, then looked back up into the camera, a hint of loss in her jungle eyes. "This might turn out to be a bad idea," Benny said regretfully. "I think I know of the risk I'm taking here. And I've taken a lot of risks, but, hey," she chanced a smile if only for a second, "maybe this one is worth it." The cigarette between her fingers burned slowly, the smoke milling up around her, an open window—the only light illuminating the room-with no air behind her did nothing to keep it from coming between her face and the camera. "Maybe, maybe I can finally find what I've been looking for." _What are you looking for?_ A voice in her head asked. "I don't know maybe, a chance at freedom or something big, something amazing! Wouldn't that be fantastic! To finally feel at peace...or at least you know...satisfied." The look she presented to the camera was one filled with doubt and she finished her cigarette.

"What the fuck am I even talking about?" she scowled as she mashed the cigarette butt into the ashtray beside her. "I'm totally fucked." She hung her head in her hands, long dark locks falling through her fingers and she raked them back behind her head, bringing her eyes back up to the camera and whirring her lips again. "Fuck it," she muttered, looking to the edge of the table where a bowie knife was stuck into, out of sight of the camera. "I've got nothing left to lose." She reached for the camera and picked it up, still keeping the lens on her face. "Before I go, I'll shoot some Bangkok for you, take you on a tour of this wondrous place," she said with a smile. "Keep in mind, this my be the last time you see my beautiful face after that." She placed the index and middle fingers of her right hand to her lips and blew a kiss towards the camera. "Peace out." And with a click the camera turned off, and Benny turned to the window of her hotel room.

Another sigh, this one a bit more peaceful than the last, and she lent back in her seat once again, the heels of her boots dragging across the carpeted floors as she stretched her legs out before her. Grabbing the knife off the table she looked towards the open window, squinting as the bright sun shown into her eyes and bobbed the weapon in her hand, playing with the weight, She tossed it up by the handle and caught it by the blade, tossed it up by the blade and caught it by the handle; she repeated this gesture another five or six times, wondering to herself, about the possible outcome of this venture. _90 percent probability that I will die;_ she tossed the knife by the handle. _10 percent probability something fucking awesome is going to happen._ She caught it by the blade. Benny nodded "It'd be a nice change of pace," she murmured to herself and scratched at an itch at her temple with the blade, listening to the shinking noise it made on her scalp.

XXX

_**24** **hours later...**_

She had not expected this kind of greeting. Well maybe she had, but she didn't expect this kind of violent greeting. Well maybe she had, but she didn't expect to be knocked unconscious, dragged to the nearest outpost then be slung up by her wrists to a beam...okay maybe she had expected that. But seriously, being a nobody with nothing to give or gain, she would have at least liked a 'hello' first.

Her brain was bouncing around in her head, her skull aching and her vision blurred. Like a long night of drinking had left her with the worst hangover of her life. The bright sun beat down on her and the humidity was driving her crazy. This was no way to spend a morning. Green eyes squinted in the sun, trying desperately to focus in on their surroundings in the brightness, to bring the blurred, doubled visions together. The first color to come into focus was red. All around her men dressed in red, whither it be shirts, hats, bandanas or strips of cloth around their arms...she groaned. Why did the first color she saw have to be so fucking bright?

One of these red clad beings caught he sounds emitting from her mouth and called to another. _God don't fucking yell!_ She thought as her head lolled to the side, causing her brain to once again roll aroudn in her skull causing even more discomfort. Another groan and the world was becoming slightly clearer. She could no see the dirt below her, the brownish-yellow hues of the earth striking her eyes. Then the sounds of boots scuffling along on wooden floors, a knife being stuck into a body, muttered words in a language she couldn't understand, then sobs, then screams, then pleas, then low guttural sounds... _someone's dieing_ her mind told her. Then she started to feel the aches in her shoulders. The burning pain on her wrists. _How long have I been hanging here?_

The world slowly started to become clearer. Visions started to match sounds and ignoring the excruciating pain in her skull, she moved herself to look up. _Just what I expected_ ; _Pirates._ There was no denying that she was in a world of shit once they realized she was awake. Each one was equipped with either a gun, knife, or both. She noticed a few with Molotov packed neatly around their bodies. One man had a string of grenades. _Expecting a war, are we?_ Well they were definitely prepared for shit to go down if it did. No doubt about that.

More pleas followed by streams of crying and stuttering. God her head couldn't take much more of this. It was so close she imagined there must have been a person not too far from her, in a slightly similar predicament, but taking it much more differently than she.

Another groan, this one for the pleading woman near her.

She wriggled her wrists, fingers flexing; these bonds were tight. A small whine came from her lips from the chafing she caused her poor wrists and she gave up for now. Grimacing from the headache, she thought it best to look around again, past the men in red with their over excessive need for weapons. Well it wasn't the Ritz. Shanty buildings made up of tin walls and wooden windows, walkways of worn out lumber and rope, crates used as tables and chairs, men sitting at them drinking, playing cards, smoking cigarettes or joints. A pitbull wandering, sniffing objects here and there, and marking a barrel and moving on its way. Chickens kept in wire pens and a goat tied to a post, lounging lazily in the dirt and picking at the grass around it. And around the settlement; jungle. Jungle, jungle, and more jungle, no doubt home to many a carnivorous beast. _Well this is just peachy,_ she rolled her eyes at the predicament. _How the hell am I gonna get out of this alive._

Green eyes closed again, her body aching and begging her to release itself from these bonds. Try as she might, no matter how hard she squeezed her eyes shut the pain would just not subside. Someone had knocked her out and hard. One more look. The world was blurry once again and took some time to clear, and when it did, she found herself staring into the eyes of a pirate...she was a tad disappointed.

This pirate didn't fit the bill the others did. He was short for one. No taller than 5-3, maybe 5-4, but that may have been stretching it. He was also skinny, scrawny, and his stance was less than intimidating, like he was confused, worried even. Big brown eyes stared wide at her, mouth slightly agape, at a loss for words probably? His black hair was askew over the red bandana around his his head, soaked with sweat from the day's heat. He looked rather, shall we say, cute, and heaven forbid, innocent, like a puppy. Completely out of place was a good phrase to use for this young man. She squinted at him. Hell he couldn't be any older than 18, but she'd give him the benefit of the doubt and say 20. His voice rang in her ears and she closed her eyes again, wishing this god awful headache would just go away. She couldn't take much more of the noise, aches or pains anymore. It was ridiculous.

His boots stomped on the dirt as he ran from her, no doubt to alert the others of her consciousness. A sigh, or rather, another groan and she forced her eyes open. But this time, in place of the miniscule sorry excuse for a pirate, was a much more intimidating adversary. What she saw first were his eyes, a mixture of browns and greens... _would they be considered hazel?_ Then that shit eating grin. She couldn't help but notice that the man definitely took care of his teeth, they were quite clean compared to the rest of him, what with the dirt around his eyes and shoulders...rather nice shoulders connected to rather nice, well muscled arms that were connected to dirt streaked and bandanged hands which laid casually at his hips. _Forgive me logical part of my brain but he's quite the looker._ Another look up and she noticed the green stone held around his neck, that shit eating grin again, those brown eyes, and then up to the scar which went from his left eyebrow and over the top of his head. _Ah he has a mohawk too, how quaint._ "Good morning sleeping beauty," he said pleasantly. "Sleep well?"

"Ugh," was all that she could come up with as she squeezed her eyes shut again, begging the horrific headache to just go the fuck away.

A whistle. "Hey," his voice sounded again, more authoritative and threateningly. "I believe I asked you a fucking question."

She watched his brows furrow and his grin quickly turn into a scowl. "Like a baby," she grumbled, doing her best to remain calm in front of the scarred man before her. She cursed herself mentally for humor being her best way to deal with a dramatic situation. The woman quickly noticed the puppy like pirate standing behind the man, still looking a tad worried. _How does a boy like this get welcomed into a world of piracy and murder? Dumb luck perhaps?_

A scoff brought her attention to the authoritative pirate. "Funny," he snickered. "That's fucking good. You got a good sense of humor I see." He rubbed at his nose with a knuckle and sniffed. "That's fucking awesome."

"Oh you're too kind," she grumbled, trying once again to ignore the throbbing of her brain. "Now if you'll be so kind as to cut me down, I would be much appreciative." Another rack of pain in her shoulders. "Very fucking appreciative. Very."

Another smile her way and she knew this would end one of two ways. The first being he would do as she asked and cut her down and let her go about her business. Highly unlikely. The second being he would either punch, smack, stab, or shoot her, or maybe just tell her no.

_Well this is quite the pickle_.

XXX

 


	2. Introductions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nothing like joking with death.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gonna throw in chapter 2 right away...and three...yay. Set sail for jokes. And a sad girl.

XXX

Strange Waters

Chapter 2

Introductions

XXX

"No," he answered casually.

 _Thank God,_ she thought, an audible sigh of relief escaping her lips. "But it was worth a try wasn't it, _hermana_?" The pirate's voice sang out a Hispanic heritage and the accent just dripped off his tongue. The green in his eyes was almost hypnotizing; mesmerizing, and left Benny speechless, and she bit her lip, never wavering from his gaze. The pain in her arms and shoulders seemed to dissipate and she felt her heart rate suddenly speed up to a rapid pace. Rarely did she find herself in this sort of predicament...well the whole tied up and left defenseless was nothing new, but normally the men never intrigued her as much as this one. She noticed the muscles of his arms flex when he took a casual step forward and crossed them over his chest. The black band wrapped around his right bicep looked ready to snap right off. _Lord Jesus but this man is dangerous and incredibly rugged. But don't we girls always sway more towards the bad boys in our lives_. She chuckled to herself mentally, trying her best to not let a smile slip. "Don't worry though," he continued with a grin. "You'll be outta here soon enough. Just as soon as a buyer makes his pick." He took another step towards her and her eyes shot down to the sounds that his boots were making on the wooden path. _I'm gonna say size 11...could be 11 and a half though._ Why she was trying to determine this intimidating pirates shoe size, even she didn't know. It gave her something to think about she guessed as the man took his jolly ol' time approaching her, smiling every step of the way and waving his hands animatedly with every word uttered. Benny felt entertained now. At least something was coming out of this being knocked unconscious and strung up like a dead pig thing. "You look like you're worth alotta money, _chica_. Pretty little thing like you." He reached a dirt covered hand up, and Benny watched as his bandaged fingers found her hair.

Not good anymore. Benny instantly reacted. She pulled her head back as far as she could stretch and let it go. Like hitting the NOS button, her forehead collided with the man's own and knocked him back a few steps and into the miniscule pirate behind him, who, himself, almost fell face first into the dirt by the much heavier Hispanic male. Said Hispanic male's hands flew up to his aching cranium, grabbing at his abused skull and he grunted a rather agitated grunt. Benny's head wasn't any better. The blow reactivated her headache and left her vision foggy and doubled again.

When the man's hands came down all Benny could see was a fury from Hell and a gun, or rather, she could feel the fury of Hell and the cold metal of a gun. Her heart raced, but now not by rugged masculinity. More by surprise, then fear, then an oh-fuck-shit-what-the-hell-have-I-unleashed worry. His left hand grabbed at her throat, squeezing around her jugular as his right dug the front end of a pistol into her temple.

At first, all the pirate did was stare, or rather, glare, glare huge sharp jagged daggers at her, eyebrows knit together in rage, teeth bared like a rabid animal's, and then a growl emitted from his throat. A very animalistic growl and Benny was actually worried. "If you're pretty face wasn't worth so much fucking money, I would GUT YOU LIKE A FUCKING PIG! Do you get me! Do NOT fuck with me."

Now as much as Benny would have liked to answer, the tight hold the man had on her jugular only allowed a short gasp on her part. She could only look upon him, into those mesmerizing eyes of green and brown. And he stared right back. His hold loosened a bit, but the force of the gun being smashed into her head told her that he still meant much harm and wasn't above threatening a woman... _nothing new_ , she mused to herself, though she also thought would it be a good idea to muse in this situation. She mentally shrugged and gasped in a supple amount of air the second he let go of her. Benny coughed and sputtered, desperately trying to take in as much air as possible, just in case this temperamental brute decided to reintroduce his clutches to her throat again. Benny noticed the chuckle he gave out as he pulled the gun away. _Oh Jesus Christ, pick a mood!_ He was laughing now, in a hysterical way that Benny couldn't quite understand. It was, to say the least, amusing really. She watched his face with each chortle, the lines around his mouth and eyes; _I'll admit it, he's still a little bit cute._ Benny couldn't quite understand herself at the moment, or more to the point, him...at least not yet that was. To be honest, Benny wouldn't mind sitting down and having a nice little chit chat with this hysterical, unpredictable human being. _No doubt he's pillaged and plunged and wreaked havoc every place he's gone, leaving blood and fear in his wake._ Much as she hated to encourage him, she chanced a smile his way.

The Mohawk'd man's laughs ceased in an instant, his body language taking on a more serious tone this time. He scoffed. "The fuck?" A slight chuckle, then serious again. "You know," he waved his gun at her, the weapon being a mere few inches from her face. "You got a lotta fucking nerve."

Benny eyed the man's body again, the straps on his belt, the holsters for gun and knife, the bandage wrapped around his left hand, the band straining to stay intact on his bicep, the straps that he wore around his torso—these she had no idea what the purpose was-the red strap that lay around his neck with a tightly beaded necklace and the strip of leather holding the green stone, and the black earrings. There was no better time to make a snappy comeback than now. "Yeah well, you got a lot of bodily accessories," she said in a blunt tone. Yup, there was the hand to her throat again, squeezing tighter this time, as if it hadn't done so previously.

"You fuckin' with me?!" He hollered, his nose just a centimeter from her own and she could smell the cigarettes and alcohol on his breath. _God what I wouldn't do for a drink and a smoke right about now._ "The fuck did I just say? Do NOT fuck with me, okay? I will fucking kill you, I don't give a fuck, I will fucking slit your throat and fuck the fucking wound, do you hear me?"

Quite honestly all Benny could hear was the voice in her head saying, _Can this man do anything besides strangling? "_ I'm sorry, what was that _hermana?_ I didn't quite catch that what did you say?" He held his hand to his ear, loosening his grip on her, eager for her to repeat herself.

"I said," she croaked, "The choking is getting...ahem..." she coughed again and shook her head. "A little redundant...don't you think?" She dared. She double dog dared, no she triple dog dared to enrage this short fused stick of dynamite before her. Was she worried? Of course she was! But the consequences seemed irrelevant to the show she was provided.

Another shouting fit, another gun in her face and she couldn't help but glance down at that smaller pirate she had seen earlier, the one she had sent this irate fucker into with a good hard knock to the head...with her own head...God that hurt. The younger male just stood there, clutching at something tightly in his hands, breathing a tad heavy as he looked on worriedly towards his superior. His hands shook and he licked his lips nervously as he swept a hand over his face, wiping away a string of sweat. Was that...what was that in his hands...oh you little fucker. "Is that my camera!?" Benny's voice sounded, surprisingly, over the ranting, fuming pirate's, and, caught off guard, he followed her gaze behind him and eyed the small device his cohort was grasping.

"Hah! Oh fuck, this? This thing?" the older man asked with another sudden change of emotion. "Why yes, as a matter of fact it is." He turned away from her and yanked the small piece of technology from the smaller man's hands, bringing it up excitedly to Benny, waving it in front of her. Benny was no longer amused. No, she was fucking pissed. The blow to the head, okay, she could deal with that. The bound and left to hang thing, sure, that wasn't so bad. The mood swings of a dangerous half crazed pirate with a Mohawk, even that wasn't a big deal. But now, now they had gone too far.

The man scratched at the side of his nose and sniffed, beaming down at the camera in his hands like a child to presents on Christmas Day. "It's a pretty good camera, no? No doubt on the expensive side, hah?"

Benny frowned, chewing at the inside of her cheek to ensure she didn't blow a gasket screaming at this mongrel of a man...no matter how interesting he was. "'Bout a thousand bucks," she muttered. If she had said anything else, she would probably have had to look forward to another asphyxiation session.

"No shit? Hah, that's fucking nice, man." He opened it up and started to fiddle with the buttons and lens. Benny still said nothing...as long as he didn't break it, she wasn't going to go Incredible Hulk on his ass. She watched him cautiously, muttering under her breath that this pickle she was in was about to turn into a great big prize winning cucumber if that man so much as got a speck of dirt on her camera. "I'm sorry," he said, taking his eyes off the camera and gazing intently towards the brunette woman. "I'm sorry, I mean, I shouldn't've gone off the hinge like that, I got a bad temper, ya know? Get's kinda crazy," he said, tapping at his temple with. "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Vaas Montenegro." At this he did an off-gentlemanly bow, then waved his arm over the little shanty outpost. "And this is my little camp. And the island it sits on, is also mine." _Selfish little prick isn't he?_ "You see, when it comes to us pirates, I," he pointed at himself with much enthusiasm, "am the King, this is my crew," he once again waved his arms around the camp, this time for the men occupying it. "And this," he held up the gun again, "is my scepter. Impressive, no?"

Well Benny was mildly impressed. If this asshole was a pirate king of a whole island, no doubt there were several other "little camps" scattered across the land, and no doubt he made sure they were up to par, at least to his standards. Benny was no fool. People such as these pirates partook in the favorite pastime profession of smuggling, whether it be people, drugs, or weapons—or other illegal things that were not accepted by society. Well that meant organization. That meant that if this handsome—yet slightly off kilter—young gentleman before her was their king, then he more than likely had a knack for fighting, murder, artillery, strategy—all those fun things. That or he was just a coked up lunatic with no organization skills at all and her escaping would be no problem whatsoever.

"So what's your name?" Benny was snapped out of her stew of figuring these pirates out and her gaze shot up once again to his own. "I noticed that, uh, you didn't have an I.D. on you at all. I mean, that makes it hard to get a little extra money off you but still..." he trailed off, rocking back on his heels and laying a hand down on his hip, the other lazily hanging onto her camera. A little smirk played at the corner of his lips.

Benny contemplated another snappy remark. _Oh snap! You know what? God, I think I left it in the hotel, God dammit. My bad._ Of course she did not say this. She decided to play nice, to keep this _Vaas_ character from throwing another meaningless tantrum. "Benny."

Vaas scoffed at the answer. "Benny hah? Benny what?"

Benny shrugged, at least as well as she could all things including ropes and beams considered. "I don't know, Hanna?" It was a good joke, at least she thought so, and apparently so did Vaas.

He chuckled at her answer, running his fingers through his well gelled Mohawk. "Benny Hanna, ha?"

"Sure," she was rather nonchalant with her answer, as if completely forgetting that the pirate lord before her could go ape shit at any given moment. "Whatever works."

Well, Vaas was now the one to be entertained as he clapped one hand over the one with her camera and let out a well voiced "Whoo!". _Huzzahs for me!_ "Haha, that's a fucking good one. Oh man, well I guess I'm gonna have to take your word for it. I mean...nothing else to go by. But, ya know, whatever. I guess names don't really make a difference do they? At least not the clients hah?" He shook his head, looking down at the camera, playing with the screen again. Oh look, he made it black and white. "So I understand you like to make videos ya? I'm a bit of camera savvy man myself." He gave her a wry grin and Benny was tempted to mimic.

The crying came back. Benny had almost forgotten about that god awful bitch tied up near her. _Ugh, make it go away! Isn't my brain going through enough trauma as it is? Stop making it worse!_ She tore her eyes away from the pirate lord and glared abhorrently to the struggling girl about six feet from her own location on the wooden deck. She was young, younger than Benny anyways, with long black waves that fell over her shoulders and down her back, though the once glossy locks were now caked in mud and sweat. _Shit I bet I'm just as worse. Bitch I wish I had a mirror._ The girl's skin was artificially tanned, probably from many a trip to the tanning beds, and her makeup was an eyesore, at least now; mascara and eyeliner ran down her face and mixed in with the tears streaming from her dark chocolate eyes. She wasn't really dressed for a weekend in the jungle either. A bright pink too-small t-shirt advertising Gangnam Style stretched over her large breasts, barely covering anything above her belly button,denim short shorts that hardly hid the cheeks of her ass, and adorning her feet, a brand new pair of orange and black Osiris sneakers.

"Oh, honey, what's the matter?" came a false apologetic tone from Vaas. He eyed the scantily clad girl and beamed at her as he did his own little Gangnam Style dance towards her, accessories clinking against his body as he did so. Benny, being Benny, couldn't stifle the snickers. Oh but he was a fun one. "What happened, _chica?"_

The girl sniffled and looked away, stuttering. "Now come on you can tell me," Vaas said assuredly. "What's goin on over here?" The brunette had to hand it to the guy, he sure could put on an act.

Another ray of sniffles and the girl met Vaas' eyes. "I...I-I saw a rat," she choked. "It, it r-r-an over my shoe and..." Vaas stopped her.

"Shshshshsh, it's okay, what was your name again?" He was caressing her cheek and Benny had half a mind to wonder if he was indeed being sincere.

"B-Brittany."

"Brittany, that's a pretty name, I like that name. Now I need you to listen to me, Brittany okay?" The girl nodded. "I wanna play a game."

"Hah?" The girl looked upon him, lost and confused, but Vaas' face was plain, he didn't smile, but he didn't frown either.

"We're gonna play a game alright?"

"What kind of game?" There was worry in her voice.

"It's called 'Shut the Fuck Up'. It's really easy okay? Real easy. There's only one rule and that's you shut the fuck up. Because I am trying to have a conversation with the lovely Benny Hanna over there," he gestured towards the brunette woman who was watching on curiously. "And you're bitching, and your complaining, is interrupting us. Okay, so I need you to just, shut the fuck up."

The girl was on the verge of more tears and started another sob fest, which Vaas did not take too kindly to. "What the fuck did I just say! I said shut up! Shut the fuck up!" He hadn't yelled as loudly or as harshly as he had to Benny, which she took as a good sign. _He must like me more_ she thought pleasantly. It took a bit more persuasion, mainly Vaas threatening to throw the poor girl to his men for their own sick pleasure, but she eventually stifled her sobs and decided it best to act like a good little prisoner. Benny didn't like the girl. She didn't know why, but she just didn't like her. "Fake ass tits," she found herself muttering, and she instantly wondered why the fuck she decided that was an appropriate or even relevant thing to say.

"What?" Vaas asked quickly.

"Um..." Benny bit her lip—yes she does that alot—"fake ass tits? Uh, I mean...ya know, she's got fake tits."

"Really?" Vaas asked, more in wonder that the brunette would come up with such a bizarre topic. To test this little theory he grabbed one of the younger girl's breasts and squeezed it firmly. This elicted more sobs from Brittany, but Vaas seemed not to notice, or just not to care.

"Dude if you can't tell, then you are one sorry excuse for a man," Benny dared once again. Probably not a good idea. The pirate lord scoffed and walked away from the sobbing blackette back over to Benny. Benny, herself, watched him as he approached. He sauntered more than walked really, still animatedly as when he was standing still and making hand gestures for every sentence. Benny decided it best to not mention her observations and decided to keep them for herself to enjoy mentally. Ah yes, she was always safe inside her mind. Nobody could touch her there. And she could enjoy all the crazy shit she thought was, well, enjoyable.

Vaas chuckled as he shook his head, coming up to stand before her once again, still slightly uncomfortably close. "I've said it before, _hermana_ , you got a lot of nerve." Benny wasn't sure if Vaas leaning his face in towards her at such a close distance was meant to be taken as a good thing, but upon seeing his ever playful smirk Benny just couldn't help it. If she got strangled again so be it, it was worth the repeat.

"Yeah, well, you got a lot of bodily accessories," she responded with a smirk.

"Heh, you ain't like alotta the other girls, ya know that?" Well this was beginning to feel a bit uncomfortable. This strange man, whom Benny admitted was a looker but he wasn't that good of a looker that him being a stranger was irrelevant to him now resting his forehead against hers. Didn't he know that she could easily...oh no wait, he grabbed the hairs at the back of her head and held on tightly, pulling them and causing just a small rack of pain to infiltrate Benny's nerves.

"Daddy always said, 'no use crying over spilt milk,'" she told him, letting his eyes wander over her face, though they seemed to keep coming back up to her own eyes; and jungle green met light and she was really, really starting to feel uncomfortable. Though she had to admit, he had very pretty eyes.

"Smart man," and he let go of her hair and stepped away, finally putting some distance between them. Benny was grateful. _That was getting awkward._ Vaas kicked at the wooden deck with the toe of his boot, not in an agitated way by any means, more of a I'm-bored-so-I'm-just-gonna-kick-at-the-ground-cuz-I-can way, and he looked once more at the camera. "I saw you videos. Don't let out a lot about yourself hm?"

Benny shook her head, testing the bonds above her while the pirate lord was preoccupied. Eh, they were still tight, but maybe they'd loosen up if she just kept at it. The pirate glanced back up and she immediately halted her efforts, smiling back pleasantly. _Smiles are contagious,_ she remembered. "No not really, but, what does it matter?"

"Secret life? Maybe you'd like to let me in on a little something?"

"Look, Vaas, was it? What my business was, well, that's just it. It was. No...like I said, don't matter. It's all about the road ahead and some such shit like that now."

"Well, maybe you'd like to make a new video hah? To celebrate you're new life." He pointed the camera up so it was facing her and hit the record button. "Say hello Benny! Come on Benny, wave to the people on the internets," Benny nearly let a loud laugh escape her lips. Though his English was fluent, the fact that he had actually added an 's' on the end of internet was just too freakin' cute. She wondered how often he did this. She secretly hoped very. "Come on Benny, wave, say hello. Don't be rude."

"Vaas!" It was the small pirate from earlier. Both Benny and Vaas had been unaware of his disappearance, but his return prompted Vaas to end their little video session and address him as a leader should.. "What, Mango? The fuck is it now? Can you not see that Benny and me are trying to shoot a video here? Could you be any more inconsiderate."

 _Mango? Good lord I hope that's not his real name._ Mango was still the little frightened mouse he had been when Benny first laid eyes on him. Only now he had a really big gun in his hands. _Good lord that assault rifle's as big as he is!_ She didn't say it, but the expression on her face sure did. Good thing Vaas had turned away, because he probably couldn't read minds and therefore would be startled by the strange lip curling and raised eyebrows thing she was doing. "Um...uh, it's the rebels, Vaas. They flanked a bunch of guys on the road. Uh, Timmy say's it's real bad, men down and the Rakyat are headed this way!" Benny still couldn't get over the fact that this tiny pirate was holding a huge ass AK-47, oh and the fact that he was a pirate! Seriously! How the hell!

"Fuck Christ! Stupid fuckers! I mean what the fuck am I even paying you guys for if you can't even keep a few fucking Rakyat motherfuckers out of the way. I mean, seriously, what the fuck?" Vaas quickly closed the camera, glaring down at the device with a rather annoyed grimace. "Fuck," he whispered, then smiled at Benny. Again he got a wee bit too close for comfort and, grabbing her hair once again—he wasn't stupid enough to let her headbutt him a second time—brought his lips to her ear. "Looks like we're gonna have to finish our little video later," Benny shivered as the man's beard scraped across her cheek. _Ah yes, ruggedness at it's best._ "See me in your dreams, sweetie _,"_ Benny nodded, rather glad to be rid of the pirate, well for the most part. He would have hindered her escape attempt had he stayed any longer, and she noticed a slight give in the ropes as a few pirates in the camp followed their leader... _into battle against the Rakyat! Whoever the fuck they are! Um...go team!_

Was Benny at odds with herself? No. No she was not. She had a plan. Being captured wasn't part of it, but, hey, at least it got her to the boss right? The rather rugged—yes we say rugged again because it is an awesome word to use—handsome, and entertaining boss.

She turned to the black haired girl with a smirk. The girl's sobs had died down and she had given up the crying. _Finally._ "He's actually kinda cute...in a psychotic-rawr-I'm-gonna-slit-your-throat-in-your-sleep kind of way but...hey. We can't all be completely boring can we?" This just caused a greatly startled expression from the young girl, wide eyes and mouth hung open, but Benny didn't care. With Vaas gone and half the pirates distracted, she might be able to make it out of this thing tonight! Then she'd get her camera, and hopefully some smokes, and be on her merry way.

XXX


	3. Self Titled

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Benny seeks employment. And Vaas loses his dignity for a few seconds.

XXX

Strange Waters

Chapter 3

Self Titled

XXX

Night had fallen quickly over the small pirate camp. It offered a cool breeze to those who had suffered the day's heat. Sounds of the nocturnal animals could be heard off in the distance of the jungle and the island was covered in a natural light given off by the moon and stars; Benny was glad it was a clear night, it would make this all the more easier. Only a few men had stayed behind to guard the camp after Vaas took the rest with him, including the dog. The men left behind took their jobs rather easily. i.e. they were sitting on their asses doing absolutely nothing but jibber jabbering, smoking, and drinking. Hell, two of the four didn't even have their guns on them. Benny took this opportunity to try at the ropes again. It had been a long few hours and her wrists were starting to bleed but it would be worth it, because she could feel the bonds give way and a bit of slack from her wrists. Yes! She was making progress.

Vaas had instructed a rather brutish looking man to guard them, but once the leader was gone, said brutish looking man forced Mango, the pipsqueak Benny had dubbed him, to guard the two women so that he could have his fun with the consumption of alcohol. Mango didn't put up much of a fight. Vaas had said to keep close eye on them, but not to touch. Mango didn't seem too interested in touching them anyways. He spent the majority of the evening perched on a crate under a luminescent light strung up with a nail to the side of the building. He was dissecting a laptop, always biting his lip every time he took one of the many miniscule tools at his side to the computer. He only looked over every so often before going back to his work. He kept the AK leaning on the his crate, and Benny caught him reaching down on several occasions to touch the weapon, in an attempt to make sure it was still there perhaps. Benny saw him as a poor excuse for a guard. He was far too preoccupied in his disembowelment of a laptop to be bothered with Benny's escape attempt.

Brittany, the scared Jersey Shore wannabe, had been watching Benny intently all the while the older woman worked at freeing herself. She didn't mutter anything to her; after seeing Benny speak to Vaas the way she had she wasn't so sure the woman was completely sane herself. On the other hand, maybe this crazed woman would help her to get out of here, find her boyfriend, and get off this Godforsaken island. "Almost there, baby." Brittany watched Benny's hands come loose and the woman quickly dropped into a crouch, stretching her aching arms and joints back into place. After a few moments of rubbing her wrists and shoulders, Benny placed a finger to her lips, prompting Brittany to remain quiet as the older woman snuck off the deck and around one of the small buildings. Brittany was scared.

Atop the neighboring crate, Mango sat cross-legged, biting his lower lip once again in concentration. After a few more fiddles with the motherboard he felt completely frustrated. If it weren't for his savviness with technology Vaas probably would have put a bullet in his head a long time ago. He pulled his bandana off and ran his fingers through his hair, sighing. "Fuck me," he muttered to himself. A snap. He turned his head quickly to see that, although the scantily dressed woman was still in her proper place, the brunette woman Vaas had introduced himself to earlier was nowhere to be seen, only the rope where she was tied was there, swaying in the breeze. "Oh shi-" A hand clapped over his mouth and an arm hooked around his neck, pulling him off the crate, allowing the mutilated computer to go sailing to the ground below. Unfortunately for Mango, none of the others seemed to notice. Ah they never noticed him anyways, only when they needed somebody to pick on. He felt himself being pulled around to the side of the building, his heels digging into the dirt in protest to this threat but to no avail. He just wasn't strong enough.

The arm around his neck was removed but before he could react he felt his knife being pulled from it's place at his waist and digging into his throat. Oh shit this was not good. "Sorry for being rude," he heard a female's hushed voice, no doubt that Benny character. "But it's not like I could just ask you politely to release me, is it?" Mango cowered under the knife's blade, his hands frozen at his sides, and he murmured pleas behind her hand. "Oh, my bad," Benny said, "Listen, I need you to calm the fuck down okay? Just calm down. I don't wanna hurt you but I can't have you shrieking for help. So, if you promise not to scream, or cry, or beg, I won't kill you, okay?" Mango nodded helplessly. What else could he do? He was small and meek and without a weapon and he didn't feel like getting his throat slashed opened. So when Benny pulled her hand away, he remained silent, as she had asked. "Good. Now, I need you to tell me where my stuff is."

Mango swallowed the lump in his throat, and whimpered as it touched the knife. He was so fucked. "I'm waiting," the woman said, none too friendly this time either. She pressed the knife harder into this skin and he gasped.

"Vaas' room! It's in Vaas's room."

"That wasn't so hard was it?" Benny said pleasantly. "Now, uh, where is that?"

"The big building. Okay? Just, come on man, don't fucking kill me," he pleaded, trying desperately to distance his throat from the blade in the woman's hand.

"Nah, you don't gotta worry about that." Mango felt her arms release him and he breathed a sigh of relief. He would have gone to warn the others but why the hell would Benny allow him the opportunity? That's right, she wouldn't. She had grabbed a handful of his hair and rammed his head into the wooden wall behind her; one, two, three times and he fell from her grasp, unconscious. "Sorry, Pipsqueak, can't have you makin' a fuss." She eyed the holster around the boy's waist. He had no pistol, but it did give her a place to put his knife. "Sorry, again, but I gotta borrow this." With the holster quickly removed from the unconscious boy's body and onto hers, she then turned her attention to the AK still leaning against the crate just a few feet away, illuminated by the bright light above it. Getting the gun wouldn't be the hard part; the crate was up against the side of the building and therefore created excellent cover for when she grabbed it. She glanced over to Brittany who looked upon her with worry. She gave Brittany the thumbs up sign and disappeared back behind the building. Brittany whimpered silently. She hoped she'd come back for her.

Benny had no trouble differentiating the 'big building' from the others. After all, there were technically only a few buildings. More like shacks actually. It wasn't that much bigger than the others though. At the site Benny was a bit surprised at just how _little_ the camp actually was. No wonder it didn't accommodate many pirates. She doubted that Vaas even stayed here...well he did have a room Mango said, but come on, he was the leader, he probably had private homes all over the island like some kind of millionaire celebrity. Benny let her mind wander as she made her way to her destination, slinking behind a crate here and a palot of drugs there, wondering why celebrities named their children such bizarre names like Pirate, or Kyd...or Pirate. She shook her head. It was time to focus.

The remaining three pirates sat around a small fire, drinking from beer bottles and telling stories of fun times on the island. As Benny made her way to the door, she heard one of the men boasting about the time he cut the Achilles tendons on a poor souls feet and watched him flop around like a fish out of water. Benny visualized the scene in her head as she carefully pulled the latch on the door, peeking at the pirates to be sure they stayed in their respectful places. They did. And with that, she crawled into the building and quietly shut the door.

"Phew," she let out. "That went rather well." The stress and concentration had caused sweat to form at her brow and she wiped it away with the back of her hand, combing her fingers through her hair to find out that it was knotted and dirty. "Ew, God, I need a shower."

Benny looked about the small interior of the shack. Well, it could have been worse. What she saw first was the worn out mattress laying on top of an old wooden frame. It was stained and smelled and Benny grimaced. "Gross." A small table stood next to the bed. It was worn and scarred with cuts from knives and rubs from heavy objects, probably boxes or the likes. Little designs were carved into the end closest to the mattress, a little smiley face, a little pecker track, and, not surprising, Vaas' name. _Well he likes himself a lot doesn't he?_ She thought as she slunk further into the room. Another stack of boxes in the corner and another table with some food provisions in it. There were a few cigars laying about on the top; well it's not cigarettes but it'll do, and so, she grabbed them. Upon grabbing the cigars she found her duffel bag in the corner and felt a tinge of relief. She hoped to find just one tiny little object, sharp, and deadly. Alas, only her clothes. A frustrated sigh. Not much else. But wait...at the end of the bed; a chest! _My stuff's gotta be in there!_

Without any hesitation Benny was quick to make her way to the chest. Again alas, there was a lock on it. "Dammit," she muttered to herself. And it was heavy too. The knife wouldn't be much help and the gun was obviously too loud. "Just fucking great. I would really like my knives right about now. God." She let herself drop into a sitting position, pinching the bridge of her nose. Well this was for nill. She sighed and decided she'd look around a bit more. There had to be something useful besides this AK. After all, she preferred the stealthy approach. _Daddy always said, take 'em by surprise._ And one knife just wasn't enough for her.

Not much else, she noticed. A miniscule pocket knife, dull as fuck. A few misplaced bags of cocaine, not her choice of drug. _God, where the fuck's the weed at?_ No weed, just coke and pills and canned food and other useless stuffs. She did, however, find a pistol under the mattress. _Never woulda thought of looking there_ , and she chuckled as she placed it into the empty holster.

And then she saw it, under that worn out table...Jackpot! She bent down and reached for the bottle. Well it wasn't knives but it was the next best thing. Tequila! She smiled, a rather stupid shit eating grin smile, and held the bottle up to her face, reveling in the contents it held. "Oh baby, where have you been all my life." Like some coked up weirdo she hugged the bottle to her chest and sighed. Well, she didn't get any of her things back, but on the bright side, she had found some Tequila. Ah she couldn't resist the urge. She screwed off the cap of the half empty bottle and took a long swig. The liquid burned her throat and left a warm kick in her stomach. She winced a bit and smiled again. "Not bad." Another swig, another grimace, and she was ready to head out and free that whiny bitch. _She might come in handy._

There wasn't much time before either Mango came to or the pirate's would noticed that she had escaped or that Vaas would arrive, not that she knew when that would be, or even close to when that would be, but it was always good to be prepared. After stuffing the tequila and cigars into her duffel, she was ready sneak out the window over the bed when she heard a most peculiar noise. Was it a groan? Or maybe a moan? Something was making a noise...a noise that curdled the blood and shivered the skin. Benny bit her lip. It sounded close, probably right outside the window, and she chanced a look before opening the wooden shutter all the way and going through.

Her boots touched the grass below and she heard it again, that moanish-groanish sound, and, being the ever curious sort, she decided to investigate, then give up if it would give away her position or poop on her plan. Through the brush she crept, ever vigilant and then tripped over a root. Convenient. Benny stilled her body, listening for the men from the camp. They never came. She relaxed.

That moanish-groanish again. She looked up. She hadn't tripped on a root. That was a leg! Well...what was left of a leg. She followed the mangled limb up, up, up to the body it belonged to, also a great big eyesore. A man...sort of. He was thrown in the brush to die, apparently, seeing as how he wasn't missed. The flesh of his legs and arms had been skinned clean off, leaving muscle and bone exposed to the open air. There were gashes in his chest and blood covered his face. What used to be short blonde hair was now a matted, muddied mess of scalp and earth. Benny rose an eyebrow at the sight. _Jesus Christ he's still alive!_

"Nngnn," was the sound that came from the man's bloody mouth.

"Hold on dude," she whispered, kneeling down by him. "Hold on. You're pretty fucked up."

"B...B-B-B," _Jesus Christ on a stick he's even still trying to talk!_ "B-B-Brit-Brit...w-w-where...B-B-Brittney?"

Benny was in absolute shock! This mangled mess of limbs and flesh and bones and yuck was still forming words! Blood leaked from his mouth every time he opened it and his fingers...well...yeah they were still fingers...slightly...scraped at the ground; his only other movements he made besides speech. She shook her head in disbelief, once again running her hand through her hair. This was some fucked up shit. Did they know he was still alive? Maybe not...but...Benny shook her head again. "Brittany's fine," she said, trying to sound reassuringly. "She's with me."

"P-p-please," he gurgled, "h-help...m-m-m-m..."

Benny shook her head at the man. He begged and all she could see in his swollen blue eyes was death. Why he wasn't dead now or at least unconscious...hell he deserved to be on Ripley's Believe It Or Not. "I'm sorry bro," she looked over his lacerated body once again, tilting her head at the image. Like something out of a zombie comic book... "But you're too fucked up to save. But I'll get your woman free, okay?" She touched the top of his head and he wheezed and flinched as her fingers touched the nerves. "Ick," she muttered, wiping her fingers on the denim of her shorts. "Grody..." and she left the man. He gurgled again but Benny was no longer listening. She made her way back to the deck where Brittany was still hung, staring into the alley between buildings that Benny had attacked Mango. The boy pirate wasn't unconscious, but he wasn't in a hurry to get up either. Little murmurs came from his lips but that was it, so Benny continued onward. The other pirates _still_ not taking notice. _Musta left all the retards here,_ Benny mused as she rolled her eyes.

"I'm back," she said as she took the knife and cut Brittany's bonds. The poor girl started rubbing at her sore wrists and whimpered when discomforting pain came from the touches. Benny grabbed her by the arm and dragged her off the deck and behind the other shanty, quickly glancing down at the groaning pirate on the ground. "Come on, we gotta move quickly." Benny continued to drag the girl round to the other side of the shanty. The girls were exposed, but they were at least out of sight of the men They were mere inches from a dirt road and across that, the foreboding jungle. They could hear the calls of the animals and the wind blowing through the trees; it was creepy to say the least.

"Wait," Brittany said, pulling her arm from the older woman's grasp. "What about Terri? I can't leave without Terri!"

"Terri?" Benny questioned with a quirked eyebrow. "The fuck is Terri?" She turned her attention to the pirates at the fire. Still there, still doing nothing...wait one was moving!

"My boyfriend! Did you see him at all? He's tall, with blonde hair...blue eyes..."

"Oh," Benny said, eyes widening and then she pursed her lips. "Um...Terri is...um...Terri's dead. Yeah, he's uh definitely dead." She once again turned towards the pirates. Though she readied the AK, she didn't want to just run out there guns a blazing. She could easily take one down with a quick throw of the knife but after that, all she had was guns, and no attachments either. Fuck.

"Oh my God!," Brittany's voice raised an octave as she started to sob into her hands.

"Shut up, shut up, shut up!" Benny ordered, grabbing the girl's arm again. "Look I'm sorry about your dead boyfriend, but if you don't wanna join him, I suggest you stop crying and start listening okay? I got a plan."

Brittany wasn't very pleased with the way Benny was talking to her, but she had to admit, she did not want to end up dead. She just wanted to go home and the woman before seemed to know what she was doing. "Here." She looked up as Benny held out a small pistol.

"Wha-?"

"Just take it okay? Look...there's that little techie, he's fucking awake now and they're gonna know we're gone. But I think I can take them."

"What were you in the military or something?"

"Something like that," Benny answered, eyes never wavering off their targets. "Now, here's what I need you to do. It'll only take a few minutes for me to dispose of these god awful, stupid, arrogant pirates okay. But I take it you're not much of a fighter so...I'm gonna send you out to the jungle." She then pointed her gun across the road where said jungle lay, just waiting to gobble up any outsiders that came close to it.

"What?!"

"Yup, and then," she pointed the gun towards the camp, "I'm gonna kill them and come find you. But it won't be easy seeing as how it's ya know, fucking night time so give me three minutes exactly. Then, after _three minutes_ , I need you to fire off that pistol okay? That way...I can find you."

"But won't that attract more danger like, I don't know, tigers or bears or lions-"

"Oh my! Shut the fuck up! Just run when I say run."

"Oh God I can't do this." Brittany's hands quickly found her head and she started to rock back and forth.

"Oh for fucks sakes," Benny rolled her head along with her eyes and shook the young girl by the arm. "Look, nothing's gonna fucking happen okay?"

"But...I've never even shot a gun."

"It's easy, see..." she took the gun from the girl, flipped off the safety, and cocked it. "There, now you just pull the trigger. Easy peasy. Just put your finger on the trigger...and pull."

Brittany looked absolutely hysterical. Tears upon tears rained down from her dark eyes and she tugged at her hair, her body shaking. She wasn't cut out for this. She wasn't some Rambo incarnate who could just dash into the jungle and fight tigers and bears and whatever else was out there. She didn't even like those movies. She liked comedies and romances and romantic comedies. Benny sighed, rubbed at her eyes and shaking her head. It was time to be nice. "Look Brittany. I know this isn't easy...for anyone...but if we wanna get out of here alive, you have to trust me okay? I need you to do this. Be brave girl!" She said the last part with as much enthusiasm as she could muster and gave a light punch to the young girl's arm.

Brittany swallowed, took in a deep breath, and nodded, eyeing Benny worriedly. "Great. Remember now...three minutes. No more, no less." Brittany nodded again. Benny watched as a very groggy Mango came stumbling towards the ring of pirates at the fire. A few shouts and scorns later Mango was on the ground thanks to a fist to the face and the others were now storming towards the deck. "Now...run!" Brittany hesitated. "The fuck! Run bitch! Run!" And Benny pushed the girl forward, landing her face first into the dirt. Brittany quickly recovered and ran, as fast and as far as her legs could take her.

Benny watched with amusement as Brittany raced into the trees, stumbling over a rock, and racing again. She laughed. _I knew she'd come in handy._ She moved from her spot near the shanty and made her way past the fire and across to another of the small buildings. The pirates were far too busy searching the deck area to see her run from one place to another. She crouched down near the chicken pens, hearing them cluck and ruffle their wings and pick at the kernels of corn at their feet. "Don't rat me out now, chickens okay?" Why she thought some animal whose soul purpose was to provide those higher up on the food chain sustenance was going to call the guards on her, no one would ever know. But it was the humor of the matter, and she smirked.

Benny eyed one of the pirates. He was in perfect view; she took the knife by the blade, pulled it back behind her, and let it fly, quickly ducking back into her hiding spot, ready to make her way back around. The knife struck one of the men in the back of the neck, the blade coming out through the front, sending a mess of blood forward and onto his comrade's face. A few bloody gurlges and an attempt to touch the knife and the pirate fell. "Those little whores!" screamed the man with the now bloody face. And then it came. The gunshot in the woods. Yay.

The pirates all quickly grabbed their arms and flashlights before running to the jungle, leaving their fellow member behind to soak in his own blood. They left the camp unoccupied. _Omfg what a bunch of rejects._ Benny was becoming disappointed. There had better be a challenge after this. Readjusting her duffel bag holding only a bottle of tequila and a few cigars, she turned the opposite way of the gunshot and rampaging pirates. "Now I play the waiting game."

… _ **...**_

"Stupid bitch," muttered a pirate furiously. "Where's the other one?" He hung Brittany up again, this time tying the rope tight enough to cause a cut off of circulation. She was whimpering again, and screeched as he kicked her well broken leg. The girl had misjudged her steps running through the jungle and went sailing down a hillside and off a drop off, shattering the bones in her left leg. She struggled horribly to keep her weight on her right leg but she just couldn't muster the strength to keep her body standing and allowed herself to hang from the ropes, quickly loosing feeling in her fingers as they turned purple.

"No sign of her," said the other pirate and glanced down at the lifeless body of his comrade. Poor fellow. Should have taken his job a bit more seriously, the living pirate mused to himself and turned to Mango, who sat on the edge of the deck rubbing his swollen cheek, compliments of the musing pirate. . "No thanks to the runt over here." He gave Mango a rather crude look and the boy thought it best just to look away and ignore the brutish man.

"Useless fuck, why does Vaas even keep you around?" The Jamaican pirate gave the smaller one a shove and he forced himself to jump from the deck before he fell. "Better he give ya ta Buck." The pirate then chuckled as Mango glared, fuming that he was defenseless against these murderous men. He half wished he was with Vaas right now, at least that man didn't take the time of day to swing a punch his way whenever he felt like it. But battle was never really his forte, which was why their leader left him behind.

"You were the one that was supposed to watch her. Vaas said-" he was cut off as another punch landed him on the ground, the same place as before and he gave a slight whine at the pain, once again grabbing his cheek. No doubt a whole half of his face would be black and blue in the morning.

"Shut up, before I string you up with this one." Mango bit his tongue this time, not wanting to anger the larger pirate further. "You're better off a slave than with us anyways," he said with a laugh and turned to the other, who returned the humor.

"Pretty boy," said the other pirate, chuckling as he shoved Mango back to the ground. The sound of engines coming into the camp stowed the jokes of the pirates and all three turned their head to watch the two vehicles packed with a dozen pirates and a dog pull in. The assortment of men exited the vehicles, some of them wearing blood on their skin, no doubt from the fight they had rushed into. It mixed in well with the red of their clothing. Vaas was adorning a large amount of that blood on the whole left side of his face, and it smeared onto his arm as he wiped at his forehead. His eyes were tired and his muscles ached from the lack of rest and he was looking forward to at least a few hours rest before he was to head out again, this time back to his own place.

Mango and the other pirates watched one of the blood soaked men, a rather large and imposing black male, drag a live body covered in tattoos from the back end of a truck, wrists and ankles tied tight. "String the fucker up over the fire," Vaas ordered the large man, waving absently to said fire pit. "We'll have a little barbeque before I leave, ha." And he laughed and continued on his way over to a shoddy table where a few provisions and a sack lay.

"Uh, Vaas-" Mango started, approaching his leader. His body tensed as the older man pulled out a large hunk of flesh from the sack, blood dripping down to the dirt below.

Vaas gave a loud whistle. "Vinnie!"

From the jumble of battle worn men, a bark erupted, followed by the trotting of paws on the ground, and a pitbull emerged, tongue hanging from it's mouth as it panted happily towards the pirate lord. "Okay, Vinnie, sit." The dog sat, watching the item in its master's hand excitedly. "Good boy, lay down." The dog lay down, barking at him. "Good boy, now jump for it!" Vaas launched the hunk of bloody meat into the air and the pitbull jumped, it's hind legs almost clearing over Mango's head. It landed with the meat in its jaws and took happily to eating it right there. "There ya go, Vinnie. Creme de la Terri," Vaas said with a clap of his hands. He gave the dog a pat on its side, smiling at the intelligent canine. "Now what is it, Mango? If you don't mind, I would really like to get at least a couple hours sleep before Carlos gets here, so, hurry the fuck up." He eyed the boy pirate as he stood, wiping the blood from his hands onto his cargos and started to make his way towards his own designated shanty.

"Well uh...Bobby...he was supposed to watch them and-"

"Mango." Mango halted abruptly, nearly running smack into the other man. The young pirate watched Vaas as he clasped his hands together in front of his face in a prayer manner, eyeing the deck—the one that was supposed to be holding the two girls on it—and the boy felt another lump grow in his throat. He was so fucked. "Now," Vaas kept the tips of his fingers to his lips as he continued, growing more agitated with the seconds. "When I left here, there were two girls over there. Right?" He pointed his hands to the now one girl with the broken leg. "Now there is only one girl...and she looks fucked up. Mind telling me, please, where the other one is?"

Shit Mango was scared out of his fucking mind. Now only was this his fault and he had already paid for it by the fists of Bobby the brutish pirate, but now Vaas was going to rip out his fucking throat. This was not good, not good at all. He stammered, wringing his hands together and biting his lip, all the while Vaas watching him expectantly. "You can blame Mango," came the voice of another pirate, this one being one of men left to guard the camp. He was tall, with a shaved head and a body packed with muscles. This was the one Mango's poor face had felt the fist of twice in a matter of hours. "He wanted to take watch of them." The boy's eyes widened in sudden awe. That dick! Mango never _wanted_ to guard the girls. He was forced to! Well now he was angry, not that he could do much about it. He couldn't even fight off some woman...

"Really?" Vaas said, crossing his arms.

"Yeah, really. Isn't that right, Mango?" The tall pirate's eyes struck a fear into Mango that he didn't want to face. As much as the younger pirate wanted to punch and kick this man's face in, the impact of his blows probably wouldn't even be enough to leave a bruise, and instead would leave himself with broken bones. So he simply clenched his fists at his sides and sighed.

"Yeah," he muttered, sending a blaze of fury towards the towering pirate, who simply smirked it away.

"And where were you, hah?" Vaas asked, anger boiling up within him. The other pirate lost his smirk at this and stammered, trying to come up with a good excuse of course. "Drinkin' on the job again, huh Bobby? Can't do one fucking thing right can ya?" He stepped closer to the other man, fuming. Bobby took a step back, not wanting to face this man's wrath when he went out into a complete rampaging fit. Vaas remained his composure though, grinding his teeth in agitation still, but refrained from bashing the other's face in. He shook his head. "Where all did you look?"

"Well, we went as far as that girl," he explained, pointing to the crying Brittany. "And that was over by the river...we searched everywhere around but couldn't find her. Figured maybe she looped around or I don't know, it was dark. Everyone made their way back after we caught this one. Ya know, didn't wanna leave the camp unguarded. But Rito went back and checked around the vicinity. He said he didn't see hide nor hair of her."

Vaas snorted at this response. "Ah huh, okay. Did you check the beach?" Bobby froze. Shit, he hadn't even thought...oh shit. The look on Vaas' face told all and he took the punch to the nose. As he staggered back holding his now broken nose, blood spilling out over his mouth, Mango couldn't help but chuckle. Take that, Bobby. "Mango!" He jumped as his leader addressed him, smile quickly disappearing from his face. "Come on, let's go."

"Uh...where?" He asked, following Vaas as the man headed out of the camp, pulling his pistol out and cocking it.

"To have a little fun on the beach."

…...

Benny sighed, taking yet another swig from the Tequila bottle and a drag of the cigar. She sat cross-legged in the sand, picking at the laces of her boots listening to the ocean surf roar before her. It looked pretty, like a picture off a vacation's brochure. Clear blue waters reflecting the pink rising sun, white sand, tall palm trees, colorful birds flying through the leaves of the jungle canopy and monkeys swinging from branches and calling to one another whilst looking for breakfast. That reminded Benny of how hungry she was; she hadn't even thought to grab any sort of edible anythings from the camp. She blamed her excitement and adrenaline for that, and not her lack of common sense. She sighed again, grumbling when her stomach rumbled for the hundred and fiftieth time. Maybe a cigar and booze wasn't the best thing to have for breakfast, but the buzz she was getting made up for it at least.

She wasn't quite sure what she was doing anymore. _Committing suicide it looks like_ , she thought and stared out at the ocean again, biting her lip. Benny was just sitting and waiting and for what? For a fucking pirate to come along and put a bullet in her head! Because that's what would happen, whether it be right now, or after they drag her back to the camp...after beating her to a bloody pulp that is. Shaking her head she drew lines in the sand with the knife she had stolen from the dead pirate. The others had thought to take the one she had embedded in his neck but not the one on his leg. It was a sad sad world they lived in. She lay her chin on her other hand, cigar hanging precariously from her fingers. The shit had begun; it began a long time ago but now, now it was going to either end, or open up something new. She just wanted something to happen. Something...epic. Benny didn't want to become some kind of hero or find a unicorn or something along those lines, but she was looking for something. To be something. Something... "Just something."

The brunette glanced down at her wrist as if checking the time of an invisible watch and checked over her shoulder. Nobody. "I wonder how the Jersey Shore wannabe is faring." And she took another drag of the cigar, tasting the flavorful tobacco on her tongue; cigars weren't that bad.

…...

Well...this wasn't exactly what Vaas had jotted down in his daily planner, not that he had a daily planner, but had he had a daily planner, this predicament would not have been jotted in it. Here he had been, just walking through the jungle paths with Mango, telling him that he needed to learn to man up and muscle up if he ever wanted to survive on this island with pirates. Mango had simply stated that he came from a long line of wimps and that beating somebody who was twice your height and three times your weight up was nigh impossible. Vaas had told him that maybe he should try to be more like him. "It's not just about strength, amigo. Ya gotta be quick too. You're smart, that's for sure, but you don't know jack shit about throwin a punch."

"Yeah well, you were raised by Rakyat warriors. My parents spent all their money going to Woodstock. Kinda obvious who got the better upbringing when it comes to defending oneself isn't it?"

Vaas shook his head at the boy. "Excuses, excuses hermano..."

"Well sorry I'm no fucking Jackie Chan," Mango murmured and he quickly ducked the instant Vaas turned around, expecting to get another fist introduced to his already abused face. The older man just looked down at him, chuckling.

"Hehe, see, you're such a fuckin' pussy." Mango looked off to a random tree, brushing dirt from his knees and crossing his arms. Honestly if Vaas didn't know any better he'd think the Filipino boy was pouting. "Ya gotta be more like me, hermano. Fucking invincible." He pounded his chest for emphasis. Mango made sure that Vaas couldn't see him roll his eyes as they continued onward, Vaas quickly finding evidence of the woman's foot prints in the dirt and he smiled. "Yeah I've been in a few scrapes but I always come out on top. Ya know how?" Mango wasn't interested, but he shook his head anyways, preferring not to obtain anymore bruises or cuts for the day. "Cuz I'm always one step ahead. That's why nobody gets away from me. That's why nobody fuckin' wins against me. That's why when people challenge me, they wind up dead. Haven't ever had any escapes when I'm around, have we?" Mango shook his head again. "No we haven't. That's because," he pointed to his eyes, turning his head to Mango, "nothin' gets past these fuckin' eyes."

And here he was. Upside down, rope squeezing tightly around his ankle, and a god awful pain in the back of his head from the tree that he had come into contact with it. Mango, well, though he was startled to the point of falling flat on his ass, stared humorously up at his leader hanging from the tree. He placed his hands over his mouth to hide the smile spreading across his face. "Don't you say a fucking word," Vaas barked, pointing harshly at the young pirate, accessories dangling from his body as he swung back and forth. After muttering many a curse word, he pointed his gun upward, intent on shooting his way out of this ungodly situation. "Fuckin-stupid fucks bitch and the fuckin' tree and fuckin' idiots!" He then went off in a plethora of Spanish as he shot away, spending many a bullet on the rope before nothing was left but clicks and he screamed once again. Mango rose to his feet and watched Vaas have to summon his inner gymnast in order to pull himself up and finally cut the rope with a knife. Of course, maybe he should have taken time to consider the drop below him, or at least how he was going to land. Lucky for him, Mango was there to break his fall.

"Who the fuck set these up!" Screamed the pirate lord, quickly recovering himself, leaving Mango to groan and rub at his now sore shoulder. "I said thirty meters east! Is this fucking east! Hah?! No this isn't fucking east! This is fucking west! Stupid, fucking, ignorant pricks! Who the fuck was in charge of setting out the traps!?" Mango was surprised to find himself still sitting there before the rampaging man as he kicked at the base of the deceiving tree. Really, he should have dove for the closest hiding place and cower for a good hour until Vaas' anger dissipated...but no. The stupid kid sat there, feeling even stupider as Vaas stormed over, pulling him up by the front of his open shirt and slamming him against the tree. The air was pushed from his lungs from the impact and he gasped, grabbing onto Vaas' bracelet clad wrist with both hands, trying desperately to pull the man's hand away. Of course, it didn't work. "Who!" the raging man screamed again, eyes boring into Mango's. He regretted ever letting Vaas keep him alive all these months. He should have just let him shoot him in the head, because the fury of the pirate leader was indisputable.

"Rito!" Mango panicked, still gripping at Vaas' wrist. At least the man wasn't choking him. He was thankful for that. "Rito was."

"Rito..." the 'r' rolled off his tongue and he spat down at the ground, eyes glaring off into the trees, as if expecting the man to be there. "Well," he let go of Mango's shirt, but the boy didn't move from his place. He was frozen to the tree by the pure horror that was Vaas'. His legs gave out and he slumped down to the ground. "I'm gonna have to have a little chat with _Rito_ when we get back won't I?" He smiled and looked down to the scared young pirate shaking against the tree. "Hey," he said calmly, crouching down so that he was eye level with him. He snapped his fingers in front of the boy's face until brown eyes met green and he gave a chuckle. "Like I said. Fuckin' pussy." He grabbed Mango by the arm and hauled him to his feet. The boy shivered and looked away, completely disappointed in himself. God he was such a fucking coward. "Now come on, let's go find that bitch. And when we get back, we'll share a drink hah?" Well there wasn't much Mango could do or say, so he simply nodded and followed...but in the back of his mind he was still laughing his ass off at the completely embarrassing moment of Vaas hanging upside down from a tree.

It only took another few minutes before they were at the edge of the tree line, scanning the coast of the beach before them. And there she was. Mango was surprised at how easy this was. She was just sitting there, and the AK-47 she had taken was laying quite a ways away from her. They could easily jump her and drag her back to the camp...well Vaas could easily. Mango would maybe just stand there looking like he was helping. "There she is," Mango said, taking a step forward, ready to attempt to try to attack the woman on the beach, but a hand on his chest stopped him and he looked up to Vaas as the older man just stared out at her. "Vaas?"

Vaas couldn't believe it. He clenched his jaw tight. She wasn't just sitting there. She was lounging! Lounging! On his beach! On HIS fucking island! What the hell kind of sick world did they live in where hostages didn't take anything seriously anymore? Vaas kept staring at the woman as Mango stared at him, confused, and looked back out to the woman again, still confused. "Mango." His name came softly and Mango wasn't quite sure how to take that.

"Y-yes?" he asked, a tad worried and still mightily confused.

"Go back to the camp. I got this, amigo."

"What? A-a-are you sure?" he stammered back.

"Yes! Go. Back. To. The camp," he growled, giving Mango quite the evil look.

"Uh...um...okay. Uh..." Mango just left it at that. If Vaas wanted to deal with this crazy bitch by himself then let him. He had already told him about what the woman had done to him and had to deal with Vaas' criticism and jokes about the matter. Fine. He could find out on his own. Hell, maybe they'd get along. Hell maybe they'd get married and have a bunch of crazy little babies. And he shook head head, making his way back to the camp, Vaas watching him trek back through the jungle before he averted his eyes back to the woman on the beach.

Slowly, he stepped from the brush and made his way across the beach, pushing a new clip of ammo into his gun before he approached this...shit what was her name again? You'd think remembering the name of someone who bashed you in the head with their own head then continued to encourage you to strangle them would be easy...

Benny, he remembered, yes, a strange name for a woman, and he didn't doubt it wasn't her real name. Many of his own men never went by their real names. It was common around here. Even Mango...well everyone knew his real name but the nickname stuck.

Benny stuck the knife into the sand again. Vaas watched her snake her blade through the sand, her dark hair that sailed just past her shoulders blew behind her in the wind and he could faintly see over the top of her camisol what looked like the heads of two wolves tattooed on her back; he could tell there was more to the tattoo under the shirt. She wore a pair of men's denim jeans, legs cut off at the knees, and tan military issued combat boots. A striped wristband of green, yellow, and red was around her left wrist and there was a tattoo of a terrifying looking scorpion on the back of her right wrist. Not many girls came to the island looking like her. Granted there were a few that did the whole butch lesbian look but still...not many. And especially not many made it look as good as she did. He admitted, he found her attractive, even in the whole I'm-a-girl-but-I'm-gonna-wear-men's-clothes-because-I-fucking-can kind of way. Not that he was marrying her or anything, but he knew when he saw something he liked. But on top of that she was dangerous? Well...this just intrigued him more.

Benny heard the footsteps in the sand before she saw them. "Took ya long enough, hah?" she asked absentmindedly, looking at the big black boots before her. She guessed she should probably see who it was that had found her before they decided to kill her. She brought her eyes up, quickly passing over the cargo pants and red tank top and... "Jesus fucking Christ!" she blurted as she jumped back, as well as a person sitting cross-legged on a beach can, at the sight of half his face being covered in blood, some on his arm, a cut on his shoulder... She sighed when he laughed. "Well you really like to dress up for the ladies don't ya?" she said, regaining her composure and flipping her hair from her eye. Vaas crouched down in front of her, finger on the trigger, making sure to keep a keen eye on the knife in her hands. _Wow, the blood really brings out the color of his_ eyes. Benny couldn't help but notice the zippers at his knees. Now what was the purpose of those? Benny being Benny, who made a habit out of doing very stupid things, lifted a hand up, proving that stupid is, truly, as stupid does.

In a flash Vaas had hold of her wrist, his hand wielding the gun dropping the weapon so he could catch her right hand with the knife before it could connect with his face. She evaded the grab by laying back and sending a kick to his chest, sending him to the ground, her on top straddling his chest, knife at his neck. She didn't really plan on putting another scar onto this man but if he gave her no choice, she had no quarrels with slicing his throat open. "Whoo-hoo hermana! You really are dangerous," he said with a chuckle.

"And how," Benny responded, rather egotistically, jungle green eyes laughing at the man under her. "I got a little question for ya, Vaas."

"Oh really? And what might that be, not that I can guarantee an answer..." he grinned. "Unless it includes taking our clothes off, what with the position and everything..."

"It's off the record," she continued, ignoring his banter for now. "Ya know...instead of the pirate/captive thing its just...well, just two people on a beach. Off the record."

"Yeah, I'm not into off the record questions." Benny should not have been surprised by his strength, yet she was, for he had grabbed her knife hand, and quite literally single handedly flipped her not only over his head, but then quickly flipped around, pulled her underneath him, holding her arms crossed her chest. "But I do got a question for you," he took hold of her wrist, her hand still tightly grasping the handle of the knife, and shoved it upwards, the blade grazing against her skin. Benny struggled, kicking her legs up in an attempt to knock this arrogant fool off of her but to no avail. She stared at him, not angrily per say, just a tad peeved. As if her nostrils flaring wasn't any indication...

Vaas lent down, pushing his weight onto her arms, crushing her under the force, and he brought his lips to her ear. "Will you beg for you life?"

His breath was hot against her skin and she shuddered. _No, Benny! Now is not the time to get excited. Stay focused! He's just another idiot!_

 _But he's not an idiot,_ she argued with herself. _Not by a long shot._

"Go on," he whispered, raising his head to bring his eyes to hers. _Wow this guy has no sense of personal boundaries. Seriously, dude, get off me bro._ "Beg for me to spare your life." He pushed her fist up a little bit more, just a little more force for the blade of the knife to put pressure on her neck. It didn't draw blood yet, but a little tug and it certainly would.

Benny furrowed her brows. What!? This guy was crazy if he thought she was some poor unfortunate soul who would give in to some tedious demand just to have one more day to live. "No." It was a blunt and emotionless response.

Now Vaas wasn't used to emotionless responses. Most of them were angry or scared or panicked or fear filled. But this, he couldn't quite grasp what this girl was thinking. Did she want to die? Did she want to play some game? As much as Vaas enjoyed games, he much prefered himself to be the issuer. This wasn't right. She had abused her wrists to the point of bleeding to escape from captivity, knocked Mango unconscious, sent an innocent girl to her doom, killed one of his men, stole his Tequila and his cigars! Where were they? Probably buried in the sand by now. The thought that she had stolen from him enraged him, but the thought that she had the balls to do it, then go sit on a beach and just wait for someone to come get her, well this...this piqued his interest.

Vaas smiled, then laughed. "You got a lotta balls for a woman." He rose his upper body back up, but kept her wrists secure under his hands.

Benny felt tempted to use the same snarky comeback she had made twice already... "And don't even say the accessory shit line. Okay, once is funny. Twice it's fucking annoying. And three times...three times will just make me fucking angry." He glowered down at her, and Benny admitted, she was a bit worried. Scared? No. She'd seen plenty of scary shit. Some crazy guy with a knife was nothing new. He smiled again. "So who the fuck are you anyway. You ain't no fucking tourist. No geologist or explorer or washed up from some shipwreck...and you ain't no merc so...What'd you come here for?"

"Oh the scenery. It's fucking fantastic. I mean, you guys should definitely advertise more, I bet you'd get a lot of business."

Vaas chuckled again. "Always the funny one, hah Benny?" _Aww, he remembered my name. That's so sweet._ "Fuckin' serious though," the smile was gone. "What are you? Some kind of marine or Navy Seal or somethin'?"

Benny shrugged. "Somethin' like that."

A smirk. "Maybe an assassin? We get alotta those here."

Benny shrugged again and let a small smirk form from her lips. "Assassination is a profession. Murder is a hobby."

Vaas laughed again. Why bring up murder if you weren't confessing to it? So she was a murderer was she? He let himself think a multiple murderer. After all, there were a lot of dangerous sharp and pointy objects in with her belongings. Yes of course he had gone through her things.

"Really now? So you have killed before." It wasn't a question, and she knew this.

"Does it matter?" She answered, flexing the fingers of her left hand under his grip. She noted that his hands were not only strong but incredibly rough. A worker boy huh? At least the man wasn't afraid to get dirty...after all he had failed to clean out under his finger nails she noticed. She made a mental note to remind him of it later...if she wasn't dead that is.

She also noticed that that black strip wrapped around his bicep still hadn't snapped off! This almost shocked her. _If he flexes anymore he's gonna wind up loosing his whole arm at this rate._

Vaas shook his head. "No I guess it doesn't. So...why are you here? And please," another small push of the blade and he pulled it back before it could cut into her skin. This she was grateful for. "Be honest."

Well his smile did look genuine, and at the same time he did seem genuinely curious and Benny sighed, turning her head away from him. She never really planned on saying much. Actually she never really planned anything past getting here. She was horrible with plans. They never worked out. Never had. It was just one thing after another, same shit, different day, and nothing ever fell into place...Benny let her green eyes rest on the ocean...well, the Tequila bottle was slightly obscuring her vision of the horizon, but she could at least see through it...kind of. It was wet and covered in sand now.

Another sigh and she shook her head. This was bullshit. "Have you ever just...sat down and realized what a crock of shit your life was. I mean, one day everything's hunky dorey and the next, it's just," she shrugged, "shit. And then after all the fucking shit happens you find yourself in a fucking corner doing absolutely nothing but the same damn thing over and over and over. Ya see...out there, out there society shuns you. Whether you're a criminal or not they'll still fucking do it. Whether you're fat or skinny or buff or tiny or if you have too many piercings or too many tattoos...or a mohawk," she raised an eyebrow at the darker man and smirked. He returned it, so she went on. "Or when you look at the world in a completely different view from everyone else...yeah they really don't like that. Well, when shit hits the fan, what the fuck else can you do? Fight back? Basically it, hah? But you just wind up...just pissing more people off. Ya can't do anything without someone's say so, you can't even take a shit without someone tellin' ya when. So you just do it. You fight back but it doesn't do anything. But you just keep doing it thinking shits gonna change, shit's gonna get better. And...fuck that's just-"

"Crazy," said Vaas, a rather pleasant smile upon his face as he looked down at the brunette woman below him. It was official. He liked her. Now in a platonic way of course, for now. If she continued to piss him off though well...

"Yeah," she gazed at him curiously, wondering if he had indeed understood her. "So...I don't know, figured, maybe this'd be a land of opportunity. I mean, when you wanna get away from the shit...you can only go forward, right?"

"Hehe, you're right." She felt his hands release her's, but not before prying the knife from her fingers. He rose up, but not off of her, and lay his hands at his sides. "Alright. Go ahead. I'll humor you. We're just two people on the the beach. No pirate...no captive...and no knife." And he threw said knife behind him, listening as it landed in the sand a few feet away. "Off the record." And he smiled and watched her expectantly.

Well he could have at least gotten off of her but if this was the best she was gonna fucking get, might as well take it. It beat having a blade shoved into her throat. "Alright so," she rubbed her face with her hands, breathing through them before drawing them down to her chin, and then letting them fall back to the sand. "I've done alotta bad things. No doubt you're a stranger to bad things..." Vaas nodded, quirking a brow. "And well, lets just say that...well...there was a lotta shit that followed afterwards. We're talking eye for eye killings and quite frankly...I just want out. It's getting boring, getting crazy, doin the same things...not killing, I mean, but...well...I don't know. I mean there's no money in it, there's law involved, and I'm not too fond of authority. I hear when people like me are looking for a change of pace when it comes to job seeking, this is the place to go. Is it? I guess my question is...are you hiring?"

Vaas listened intently. Taking in her not very well put together story. She wasn't telling him everything, and though he hated being in the dark, what she was implying was bothering him more. He scoffed, crossing his arms and adjusting himself on her abdomen. _God I didn't think his butt would be so boney._ She tried shifting under his weight but he was intent on staying right where he was, her comfort be damned.

Vaas scoffed, rubbing at his eyes and then laughing. Benny just watched, waiting for him to speak. "Hah! Are you...are you...you asking me for a job?" He asked incredulously. "Like...you fucking serious?" He stared down at her wide eyed, smile not sure if it should stay or go.

"Well it's not so much as me asking for a job as it is getting you to offer me one," she explained, twiddling her fingers together and picking out the sand under her brightly painted green nails.

Well...if Vaas had never been flabbergasted before he certainly was now. He didn't know what the hell was wrong with this woman but she was fucking crazy if she thought he would offer her a job as a murderous pirate. Women never lasted long among the men, especially free roaming ones. They would get picked off one by one. This wasn't the first time this had happened. Two woman that he remembered came to seek the life of a pirate. One wound up going into shock over all the activities, and not to mention that she had been raped almost continuously for two whole weeks after arriving. She died shortly after. Her body just giving out. The other woman that had come along was some dead beat teenager mad at her parents, thinking she was badass and could take on any man. Well, once again, that did not work out, though she did get a few good punches in, she still wound up dead. Or was she sold? Vaas couldn't quite remember...eh either way she was probably dead.

He started to laugh again. A lengthy hysterical laugh that left tears at the corners of his eyes and his sides sore. Benny wasn't quite fond of this show before her. She wasn't quite fond of men laughing at her for no good reason either. She had done nothing funny or important or even interesting. She just say, hey you give me a job. "So...hehe," Vaas wiped his eyes. "So...even if I did consider your fucked up request...hehe...what's the difference in me offering you a place here than you asking for it?"

Benny shrugged once again. "If _you_ offer me the spot, then that means that you see something in me. Something fucking useful. The same thing you see in all your other pirate homies." _Whatever you saw in the ones left to guard me though, I'll never know._ "They'll know that you'll think I'm good enough because _you're_ the one that offered me the job. If I asked, I would just look desperate and, kinda sad really. Easier pray. You see my point?"

Vaas just shook his head, leaning over her once again, his fists pushing into the sand on either side of her head. "I think I do, _hermana_. But what the fuck makes you think that I would even _consider_ allowing you into our little club?"

"Give me a knife...give me two...and I'll fucking go all out."

"Can you shoot a gun?"

"Duh," she said, rolling her eyes. "But I prefer the sharp stuff. Makes it more personal ya know?"

"Messier too," Vaas commented.

"Yes, coming from the man covered in blood. Thank you, Vaas. Great observation." She was playing with him. And she enjoyed it. She was happy. There was something there she couldn't quite grasp but it piqued her interests. his eyes, his body, his unpredictability, his constant drops of F bombs—granted she had quite the sailor mouth herself—or just his complete bad boy-ness. Yes...she went with that.

"I'm very dedicated to my work," he told her, eyes never lingering from hers. She liked his eyes, even if there was blood around one of them. He had pretty eyes and she wasn't afraid to admit it.

"You have pretty eyes." _Wait! I didn't want to admit it out loud! Dammit brain, work right!_ She bit her lip. Now she had encouraged him. Great.

"Haha! Why thank you, _hermana_. Not a lotta people take the time out to notice ya know? You, you are very observational. Very. I like that. You know you're the first person to comment on my wardrobe in a long time?"

"No? Really? Nobody ever mentions the belt or the other useless shit...never?" One of these days, one of these days her sarcasm and humor were going to land a fist in her eye.

Vaas seemed not to notice though, only smirking and once again mentioning the enormous balls she had. "You must wear your ovaries on the outside, no?" And he laughed as he stood, allowing the brunette a bit more personal space. "Alright then. Alright. I'll fuckin' go with it. Worst that can happen is you get raped and killed," he said with a chuckle.

"Wait, are you offering me a job then?" Benny asked, eyebrows raised as he extended his hand to her.

"Think of it as an opportunity," he said with a grin. _Well,_ she shrugged, _at least I'm closer to finding what it is I'm looking for._ She gave a smirk and accepted his hand. She noted that she liked his hands...oh the wonders he could do with those hands.. _Shut the fuck up Benny!_ Her subconscious screamed. _Just shut the fuck up and go kill people in the name that is all pirate! And stop worrying about guys with Mohawks and tattoos..._

_But he doesn't have any tattoos-_

_Shut up!_

"Now, how bout a drink?" He nodded to the tequila bottle, implying that Benny be the one to grab it. No he did not trust her. She was different from the other girls. She was a fucking death trap if he didn't watch himself. She could have easily just slit his throat and be done with it instead of talking but no...no she hadn't done that. Instead she had demanded an answer for an off the record question.

Benny rolled her eyes and begrudgingly walked over to the spilt tequila bottle, taking a rather gluttonous drink before holding it out to the man before her.

Vaas examined the bottle...it was almost empty. Great, he was out three cigars and half a bottle of booze. This did not sit well at all. No, no, no, no, no. He gave a smirk though, masking his blazing anger within and kept his eyes on her as he rose the bottle, gulping down the last of the contents. He held back a grimace, coughed, and glanced over at Benny, who just looked out towards the ocean again, crossing her arms. Vaas swore she looked a little lost, a little at odds with herself. "These are strange waters you're treadin' in, amiga. Never know what you're gonna find." He weighed the bottle in his hands, tossing it up and down.

Benny was sure of her decision but there was something about Vaas that was nagging at the back of her mind. He was a live or die situation. Some shit was seriously going to go down and she knew it. "Well that's the fun of it isn't it?" she said plainly.

Vaas smirked and glanced down at the bottle again; a tiny drop. Not even worth it. "You stole my shit, you fucking bitch." Before Benny could react, Vaas had slammed the bottle into her temple, and when she stumbled he did it once again, and then a third time just to make sure she wasn't going to fight back. He then gathered up his pistol and the knife, swung the groaning woman with the over excessive excruciating headache over his shoulder, and headed back to camp, leaving the AK in the sand for now. He'd send Mango to get it later. It was his gun after all.

Vaas was serious when he said he would give the woman an opportunity, but whether she could handle becoming one of them remained to be seen. It had been a while since some fresh meat had some along. If he recalled correctly Mango was the only newest member, and he had only made the kid shoot a few people. He'd have to come up with something a bit more interesting for Benny. Murder didn't seem to bother her obviously...but what about torture?

XXX


	4. I'm Not a Meth Addict!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vaas shows his skills as a barber and Benny shows her skills at screaming.

XXX

Strange Waters

Chapter 4

I'm Not a Meth Addict

XXX

_She held on frantically to her abdomen as she ran, blood pouring out of her body like water from a pitcher, seeping through her fingers and staining her dirt covered clothing. A howl, another, and another. She ran as fast as she could. The mud clung to her boots, slowing her, trapping her, any progress a miraculous feat with every step. She sunk down till the mud was at her knees and she still struggled forward, blood draining her body and it was becoming harder to breathe._

_The howls came closer. A fear clenched at her heart and tears streamed down her face._ _**No, no, no, please no!** _ _Jungle green eyes searched the forest, over the foliage and past the tall pines. The air was cold and silent, save for those blood curdling howls. She shivered, lip trembling and skin turning pale as she tried miserably to pry her body from the ever rising mud. Then a figure rushed forward. A silver, yellow eyed Timber raced towards her, teeth bared and ears back. It growled and lunged and she screamed, covering her face with an arm._ _**Please!** _

_Her heartbeat slowed as she removed her arm. The evergreen forest was gone, the mud, the trees, the fallen logs, the wolves...it was all gone. She walked forward, feet trudging through white sand like it was molasses. Her hand still curled at her stomach, trying desperately to close the wound with her fingers. Where was she? Eyes looked up to the giant leaves of a tall palm tree;_ _**Where am I?** _ _Scared, and confused, she moved passed the jungle brush, losing her footing every few steps, trying to run but the ground just wouldn't allow her. Through the sand and the never ending trees she trudged, leaving a trail of blood in her wake. Her eyes widened when she came out to a deserted beach, the sand wet and sticky and hindering her movements as she approached a man. She couldn't see him at first, his body blurred and distant. But she ran, as well as she could, holding her arm tightly around her stomach, the pain excruciating._

_Finally, she was behind him. The blurred outlines of his body dissipated and could see him_ _clearly now, clearer than she ever had, even the colors of his clothing and skin and hair seemed more vibrant than she had ever seen._ _**Vaas?** _ _He was just standing, arms holding onto something in front of him. She couldn't see...she could barely get any closer._ _**Please, please, let me reach him, please...** _ _she urged her body forward, able to reach a hand out to grab onto his shoulder, using him as leverage as she pulled herself forward. Her eyes grew wide as her heart thumped against her chest. There in his arms, was a baby; a tiny newborn, innocent and defenseless, in the arms of a dreaded, murderous pirate. His life did not seem to matter to her as she swallowed, eyes brimming with tears. "What's his name?"  
_

_Vaas did not look at her, only down to the baby in his arms and smiled. It was sincere, and his eyes were warm, like this was his own child. "I don't know," he said calmly. "He's not mine."_

_She tried to get a hold of her breathing, tried to calm her heart but she could feel death gripping at her soul and squeezing with all it's might. A whimper came from her blood covered lips and she watched the pirate before her stare dead out to the sea, smile gone, like it had never been there. He fell to the sand, lifeless, the baby sailing from his arms and to the ground. Benny gasped, looking down at her stomach. The blood had stopped, the large gash gone. A sigh of relief then a scream as she saw Vaas' body before her, shirt ripped open and bloody slashes across his chest._ _**No! Please, please, stop!** _ _The baby, it started to change; it grew, rising up into a fur covered, four legged beast with sharp fangs and piercing yellow eyes. Benny screamed as the wolf lunged at her, teeth sinking into her throat._

"Rise and shine, _hermana!"_

Benny sputtered and coughed as the last of the icy cold water dripped from the bucket onto her head. _Oh that motherfucker!_ Well, at least the cool water was a nice gesture, considering how hot it got in this place. "Bout time, you slept through half the day already. Talk about lazy."

Benny groaned as Vaas circled around her. Where the hell was she now. The surroundings told her the same shack she had ransacked of booze and cigars earlier. But this time, there was a chair, and not only that, she was tied to it! Her wrists to the sides and her ankles to the legs. What the hell did this fucker want now! Wait a minute...had he slammed a tequila bottle into her head!? The horrific headache confirmed her assumption and the memories came flooding back. Knocked out, woke up, hot pirate guy, escape, kill a pirate, steal booze and cigars, sit on beach, get attacked by hot pirate, get job offer by hot pirate, get knocked the fuck out by hot pirate. Alright, now that she had everything settled in her brain, she could examine this final situation.

As Vaas circled her, once again mentioning the nerve and balls she had—actually she felt well complimented—she noticed the small pirate sitting cross-legged on the table, chin in his hand as he watched Vaas, rather boredly, as if he had seen this spectacle one too many times. "You ain't the first woman to grace my island with an attitude. Most of them though usually wind up dead or sold. But you...you're different. I actually believe that you may be able to handle yourself...maybe..." he eyed Benny, stopping in front of her. He lent over her, placing his hands on either side of the back of the chair and straddling her lap. _Don't you think you should be doing a little strip tease first, boy?_ The flirtatious side of Benny asked mentally. _Please do._

She noticed he had yet to wash the blood from his face and she thought it only polite to mention it. "Ya still got a little shmootz, right there," she said, pointing the only way she could—with her face—to the dried blood on his.

He chuckled. "You ain't much better, _hermana._ " And he touched the side of hers, fingers scraping off the dried blood that had seeped from her temple. She flinched when his fingers flicked at the wound, and grumbled incoherent insults towards the man. "But you gotta admit, you fuckin' deserved it."

"Well, that's what you get for stringing me up like a dead pig," she retorted, not really giving two fucks if Vaas decided to strike another bottle against her poor abused skull.

"Thought I paid for that with the headbutt."

"Yes, well then, you decided to strangle me, so, yeah..." she raised her eyebrows at him, once again daring the fuck out of him to do something completely psychotic.

He lolled his head back, laughing and leaning back on her lap, keeping a firm hold of the chair. "You really take this eye-for-an-eye thing seriously, don't you _amiga?"_ he said as he brought his eyes back to hers. She didn't answer, just stared off at the wall, a little peeved that she was tied. He sighed, and let his elbows rest on her shoulders. Honestly his close proximity was a tid bit suffocating. "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind," he said with a smirk, and she turned her attention back to him, furrowing her brows. _Aw, he's a philosopher too. Well, I'm sold. My sanity? Why yes, it's out the window. Yup, the last of it. I just threw it out. Yes, I know, I'm crazy. Dammit._

_Shouldn't you keep just a little bit?_

_In this world we're living in, isn't sanity just a waste of time?_

_Whatever you say._

She didn't take her eyes off of him, just stared as he continued to smirk. She caught the site of the long scar on his head, how it cut through his eyebrow and ran clear along the scalp; it was hard to get something like that by accident. _Definitely a personal wound._ She wished she knew what from, or from whom. Heck she was half tempted just to touch it; thank God her hands were tied down or she might have enraged him once again.

Vaas sniffed and removed himself from her lap in one quick and graceful movement. "So you wanna be a pirate hah? Wanna run with the big boys do ya? Well then...you better be ready to commit." He waltzed back over to her and lent his arms once again on the chair, his forehead barely touching her own. "Cuz once you're in, you're never getting out." Creepy, was what Benny thought, the way he had said that. This was, of course, she realized, a do or die situation and she weighed her options. _Become a pirate and be free of the shit that's been following me around the past umteen years of my life, or be killed or sold into slavery. Hmm...tough call._

"Don't worry, honey," she said, trying to sound as pleasant as possible. "I can commit. _No problemo."_ And she moved her head forward, connected them, and her eyes met his, and she wondered what she'd be able to see in them after today. A mischievous glint in them so far as he smirked, snickered, and stood up, disconnecting the skin to skin contact that Benny was finally becoming just a smidgen used to.

"So you got nothin' left to lose then?"

She shook her head. "Not a damn thing."

"Heh, alright then. You wanna be one of the big boys though, there's a few things you gotta do first. I'll be right back. Don't go anywhere." _Yes, because that is totally possible right now. Thank you._ Vaas clucked his tongue at the brunette and exited the building, leaving Mango to begrudgingly guard her once again. Benny knew that an escape this time was probably, for the most part, useless, but she was done escaping. She had got what she wanted.

Benny caught the boy sigh as he played with the carvings in the table, his face swollen and bruised. Benny thought it only right that, since she was going to be given this pirate-y opportunity, that she should at least make some sort of amends. Maybe also make an effort to find some form of companionship in this shithole world. "Hey...Mango was it?" The young boy's eyes looked to her, and she felt a little sorry for him. "Sorry about slamming your head into the wall...my bad," she said with an apologetic wince, flexing her fingers. Mango just scoffed, glared, then went back to picking away at the wood. Benny bit her lip. "I uh...don't remember giving you those though," she continued, mentioning the large bruises on his face.

"You didn't." Well if looks could kill Benny would most certainly be dead now. She looked away from the fuming pirate and down to the floor, wondering just what it was Vaas had in store for her. She had already seen what they were capable of, the scene of Terri's skinned alive body alighted her memories and she shuddered. That was just gross.

The chair she was tied to was beginning to feel rather uncomfortable, not that it was a Lazy Boy or anything, but now that she was soaking wet and her wounded wrists were once again tied tightly, the only thing she could think about was relaxing in a nice soft bed. _Keep dreaming, Benny. The last soft bed you ever slept in was left in Bangkok. You'll most likely never feel that comfort again._

_Should've gotten a suite then._

The sound of the door creaking open alerted both Benny and Mango of Vaas' return, and Benny beamed. Her camera! Oh God, it was still alive! Thank the blessed beings that be! "Hey, Benny, look what I got," Vaas sang as he brought the lense to her face. Benny couldn't help the relieved smile. "You look so happy now," he mused, recording her relieved state.

"I was worried you broke it or something," she said, paying no mind anymore to her chafing wrists and soaked clothes.

"Come on, Benny, do I really seem that careless?" Vaas feigned a disappointed expression.

"I wasn't sure."

A little laugh and he continued. "Now...where was I? Oh yeah, so you wanna be one of us, hah? And there's a few things you gotta do right? Well," he brought the camera away and tossed it to Mango, who caught it quickly. Benny was happy the boy had a liking for technology, lest he just let it drop on the floor and break. "Mango, get this, it's gonna be good," he ordered the smaller pirate, and Mango adjusted the camera so that it was on him and Benny. The woman watched cautiously. _Please, don't break my camera. Please don't break my camera. Please don't break my camera..._ "Since you'll be starting your new life, I thought that maybe, you could use a new look." Benny tore her eyes away from the camera and stared at Vaas with great confusion.

"What?" She asked, getting a bad feeling about this. She watched curiously as Vaas pulled his hand out from behind him. _Dang, hadn't even realized he was hiding something._ But what he was hiding sent Benny's head spiraling. A razor! An electric razor! Oh no, no, no, no, no, no, this was not good.

"What are you gonna do with that?" She chanced a worried smile, trying to shrink back into the chair. "You uh...feel you need a shave?"

"Could," he said, rubbing the growing stubble on his cheeks. "But I can wait. You see," he crouched down next to the cowering woman, placing his bandaged hand on her shoulder. This did not ease the tension one bit. "The guys here, on my island, well they respect me, some of them fucking idolize me as their leader. These fuckers, they decided that, to show their appreciation, they would cut their hair...like mine." He ran his fingers over the top of his Mohawk and Benny's eyes grew wide as saucers. "Now," he smiled, bringing the razor up to tap against his chin. "I was thinking, why not show _you're_ appreciation, you know, for me not killing you, and letting you have your fun here, by doing the same." He held the razor in front of her and Benny felt the shrieks inside of her wanting to burst out at any second. The look on her face was priceless and Vaas loved it, smiling, rather evilly, at the response he was getting from the girl. "So...are you ready for a new you?"

The responses came. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, come on man!" she screamed as Vaas stood, flicking the switch on the device, and it buzzed to life. "Come on, come on, man. I look horrible with short hair! No, no, no, no, no, no," she pleaded. "Please can't we do something else? Like...like friendship bracelets or something?" God was that the best she could come up with? Vaas once again straddled her lap as she started to struggle, bobbing her head away from that God awful machine in his hands.

"Come on now, Benny, just a little bit off the top..." the hum of the razor on her head sent her over the top. She started to scream and beg and even try to negotiate.

"No, no, no, no, don't do this, dude! Come on! I promise, I'll never steal from you again, okay?! I promise I won't kill anyone else! I promise I'll be your best friend just come on, man..." the whining that sprang from her lungs excited Vaas and only pushed him onward, buzzing through the wet mop of thick waves and warning her that if she didn't sit still, he'd wind up cutting her. Mango, meanwhile, gave out little chuckles as he held the camera up, recording every plea and cry from the woman, a very different turn of events compared to when he first had a run in with her. She was fucking vulnerable and it was fucking hilarious.

Soon the pleas turned into threats and Benny's voice started to sound more like growls than whines. "You sick, stupid, son of a bitch. I'm gonna fuckin stab you! I'm gonna fucking shoot you! I'm gonna shove an RPG up your fucking ass and watch the fucking fireworks! You are so FUCKING DEAD!" Vaas could only laugh.

"Don't worry, _hermana,_ you're gonna look beautiful, just wait and see," he said with a rather devilish chuckle. "Alright, one side done."

Benny panted heavily, her anger boiling over and she did the only logical thing she could think of. She bit that sadistic mother fucker right on the shoulder.

"Ah fuck!," came the wrath filled voice of the pirate lord, pulling off of her and standing, examining the damage done to his poor shoulder. Well, she didn't draw blood, but there would definitely be a mark there for a while. "Oh you sneaky bitch."

What was left of Benny's hair stuck to the side of her face and over her eye, leaving one very angry and irate eye to glare a threatening doom at the older man. Oh how she wished looks could kill now, and resurrect, that way she could kill this cocksucking dickwad, then bring him back to life just so she could kill him again.

"I'm gonna let that one slide, okay, _hermana."_ The calm voice he used was forced, for there was a raging inferno building inside of him that he would no doubt unleash should she try something like that again. _"_ No blood and guts, so I think I'll live. But we still got a whole nother half to go yet," he pointed the razor to the still hair filled side of her head and she shrieked an awful loud shriek at him. Mango actually yelped and Vaas cringed at the magnitude of her voice. Bitch could fucking scream.

Well, once Benny's shriek fest was over, she slumped, her lungs sore and her throat dry. She bared her teeth at the man, but she had nothing left she could do. "Alright," Vaas sighed, starting up the razor again. "Let's try this again."

Another fit of struggles and empty threats later, Benny was relieved to have the pirate off her lap and away from her, lest she decide to bite his jugular this time. "Haha, look at all this. Just look at it!" Vaas picked up a handful of Benny's hair from the floor, waving it in front of her face and then showing it to the camera. "Look at this fucking hair. Damn, I don't know how girls can put up with it, but whatever, you know." He laughed again as he threw the locks up into the air like confetti and he walked to the opposite side of the room, behind Benny, still laughing away. When he reappeared, he took a not so delicate jump onto Benny's lap, elicting an annoyed 'oof' from the woman. He had a mirror in his hands this time and he held it up to Benny, once again commenting on how 'wonderful' she looked. "It's like...we're twins," he mused, chuckling again and pulling on what was left of her hair, letting it fall back down.

If Benny's eyes could get any wider they would burst out of their sockets. Staring back at her in the little mirror wasn't Benny...at least she didn't think that was her. She didn't even notice the dried blood leaving a trail from her temple or the ever present finger marks around her neck, now a lovely shade of black and blue. No all she saw...was a very long Mohawk. It didn't even look good, at least she didn't think so. Her struggles had caused a few stray hairs to be skipped and she compared herself to Golem from Lord of the Rings...in all actuality she didn't look that bad. It was the same as Vaas', only about fourteen inches longer. But that wasn't the point and a scream came. "OH MY GOD! I look like a meth addict!"

Vaas gave a hurtful expression, laying his hand over his chest. "Ouch, now that hurt, _hermana._ I'm not a meth addict."

Benny swallowed, took a glance his way, then back to the mirror. "A heroin addict then!"

Vaas pulled the mirror away and returned to his standing position over her. "Hehe, you're so sensitive, you know that? It's just a haircut...it'll grow back." And he turned from her, mocking her screaming to Mango, who smirked. Rarely did the older man make him smile, but seeing the woman who had knocked him unconscious get her hair cut off was fucking priceless and he let a small laugh escape his lips.

 _Yeah, until you decide to cut it again,_ Benny fumed to herself. She couldn't believe that dick! God, have her kill someone. Wouldn't that have been a better initiation process than tying her up and chopping her hair off? For the love of all that was holy make her cut somebody instead of chopping her hair off! Why her hair? _Now I look like some drug addicted guy!_ Not that Benny thought all men with Mohawks were drug addicts. On the contrary, she thought they were rather attractive. But _her_ having a Mohawk she couldn't think of anything else she might have looked like besides that.

"Well, now that we got that out of the way," Vaas said, looming over her once again. She didn't like feeling 14 inches lighter. "What you say we go on to the next test." The smile he gave sent a shiver up her spine; why couldn't he just be serious about it instead of acting like everything was a game. Felt like some B torture movie.

"And what might that be?" Benny asked through clenched teeth, folding her hands into fists, feeling her nails stabbing into her palms.

"You said you're talented with a knife right? Well...what say we put that talent to use?" He moved over to her, planning to untie her wrists, but stopped as his fingers grazed the ropes. "But you gotta promise me something."

Benny caught the green in those mocking eyes of his and sighed, well, more like exasperatingly and angrily than she had intended, but, it was a sigh nonetheless. "And what might that be?"

"That you don't try anything. You know, running, screaming, stabbing...stuff like that."

Benny sighed. He had just cut her hair! Her promising she wasn't going to stab anybody would be complete bullshit, but she forced a smile, albeit a rather pissed off one, but it was still a smile, at least she thought so.

"You know, I like to take chances, so let's just do that hah?" And he pulled at her bonds, quickly untying them and standing before she had a chance to lunge at him, just in case that was her plan. The brunette didn't rub at her wrists right away, or even stand, or even respond or look at Vaas. She had even completely forgotten her camera. She brought her hands up to her head, feeling the scratchy bristles that Vaas had left behind on either side of her head. Her hands shook at the feel. _I swear to God I am going to fucking IMPALE him when I get the chance._

She barely registered the start up of the razor again and was only aware of it as it swiped over her head again. She yelped and grabbed at her head, ducking down. "The fuck was that for?"

"Sorry, missed a spot. Hey I had to get it otherwise you'd look like that trippy little fucker from Lord of the Rings. Now," he opened the door, letting in the bright sun to burn Benny's retinas. _God I hate the sun._ "How bout we go show off your new hairstyle."

…..

Ah yes, another wonderful predicament Vaas had not jotted down in his daily planner. How to get an irate bitch through a door. He tried everything, threats, sweet talk, threats, persuasion, threats, and when none of that worked, he just pulled his gun out and let an array of curses and F-bombs to spew from his mouth.

Mango cowered back, choosing to stay seated at the table. He hadn't the common sense to turn the camera off and just held it there dumbly as it recorded Benny's struggle against the larger pirate. At first, she had simply started batting at his chest with open hands, much like a child would an adult in an attempt to maybe possibly hurt them. Vaas had just grabbed her wrists and when she launched her knee into his stomach he proceeded to backhand her across the face. Benny seemed unfazed as she returned the backhand, leaving Vaas, for the most part, stunned. Had she just bitch slapped him?! Then the gun and F-bombs came out and if Vaas thought he was vexed, then Benny was lividly vexed.

No way, in a million, bajillion years, he pondered if that was even a real number for a second, could this ever, EVER happen again, EVER. That bitch, that irate, PMSing bitch pushed him! Pushed him into the table, almost causing Mango and the camera to fall to the floor below. As Mango pushed at Vaas' shoulder in an attempt to help his boss back to his feet, Benny had wrenched the gun out of Vaas' hand in his stupefied..stupor. But did she turn the gun on him? Did she cock it and pull the trigger or even threaten to? Why no, but do you know what she did do? Just out of pure fucking spite she chucked the bastards gun right out the door, ignoring the thump and curses from the poor pirate it had injured. "THERE! YOU GO OUTSIDE!"

Well, maybe she should have ducked before that fist landed in her face because Jesus H. Christ did that ever hurt! She was flung back against the crates at the adjacent wall and Vaas was once again in a strangling mood. Luckily, it did not last as long as before and he just shoved her away, giving out a rather roarish cry. Before Benny could react he had his arms around her waist and attempted to carry her through the door, but she caught the frame with her hands, pushing back, propping her feet up to the frame to assist.

"GET OUT THE FUCKING DOOR!"

"NO!"

"COME ON BENNY! OUT THE DOOR..." he pushed and he shoved before he decided a good old fashion tackle would do the trick. It did. Benny went sailing through the doorway face first into the dirt, Vaas landing on top of her, and as if her screaming and hollering hadn't attracted unwanted attention, her fall certainly had. Several pirates stood around her, gawking, laughing, chuckling, murmuring their perverted thoughts to one another; one of them rubbing his sore head and holding the gun Benny had chucked out the door. Benny was quick to push the pirate lord off of her and stand, regain her composure, and try to be as big as she possibly could.

 _Always try to appear bigger than the predator...or at least as intimidating._ She hoped Animal Planet logic was going to work this time. It worked on a bear back in the states...actually it more less just confused the poor animal before her father had shot it straight through the skull. She felt sorry for that bear back then. Unfortunately, puffing out her chest in an attempt to seem bigger and more intimidating when it came to men only brought on a few hoots and hollers regarding her lady parts. Well, this had certainly backfired.

A strong arm wrapped around her shoulders and she had half a mind to swing around and headbutt that fucker once again. Her better judgment told her otherwise. So she just crossed her arms across her chest and huffed. _Hope he's happy. I'm outside showing off my_ 'new haircut'. " _Amigos,_ " Vaas announced, another terrific mood swing taking effect. "I'd like you to meet Benny, the new recruit."

A few more hoots and hollers and Benny knew right away what was on every single one of these men's minds. _Oh, buddy, you best watch yourself,_ she thought, eying a dark skinned pirate licking his lips as he looked her over with hungry eyes. _Ya'll can go fuck yourselves if you're that freakin' horny. Don't worry, I won't judge._

"Haha, I know right. Been a while since we had a woman around here. Hopefully she'll be a little more useful than the last one, hah?" He winked to his men. This did not help Benny's mood whatsoever. "How long you fucks give her, one week? Two?"

"I give her three days," piped up one of the men, this one having a string of Molotovs around his torso and long dreadlocks tied back behind his head. "They never last longer with me," he mused to his comrades, bringing a few chuckles his way.

Vaas guided Benny away from the musing bunch and left them with their fantasies, Benny rolling her eyes at their antics of dry humping the air in front of them. _Men,_ she thought. _They don't have enough blood in their bodies to power both their brains_ and _their dicks at the same time._

As they walked along the camp, Benny caught the whiff of a burning scent...more of a burning flesh scent. She followed her nose to a charred corpse being lowered from over a fire. _Yeesh, wonder what he did to deserve that._ "See that," Vaas said, pointing to the burnt body. "That's what we call a very unfortunate Rakyat motherfucker."

"Rakyat motherfucker, huh? Lemme guess, you're sworn enemies?" She still looked on as a rather massive man pulled the body from the camp with ease. _Christ, motherfucker's a freakin' giant! Note to self...do not disturb giant._ No doubt that man could snap her neck with his fingers.

"You missed quite the show, _amiga._ We had a barbecue and beer and plenty of weed..." Benny did feel disappointed. She hadn't smoked a blunt in days, the last thing smoked being just a cigar. And beer...God she hoped she could enjoy the benefits of being a pirate soon. A good toke and a good beer, chillaxing in a lawn chair before a fire, just letting your worries slip away... "Unfortunate for you. But that's what you get for bein' so lazy."

"You knocked me un-fucking-conscious!" she retorted, turning to him with angry eyes. A small wind blew through the camp and her head felt cold. She touched it again. She missed her hair so much already. "Maybe I would have partook in the merriment if _somebody_ knew how to treat a lady...instead of knocking a tequila bottle against their head multiple times." She rolled her eyes at this and glowered away as Vaas continued to lead her forward.

They came upon another two men sitting at a shoddy table near one of the buildings. They both looked worse for the wear. One had a broken nose and dried blood on his chin, the other one looking rather panicked, wringing his hands together in nervousness. The pitbull she had seen earlier lay lazily in the dirt, ears perking up at the sight of the pirate lord. It barked and ran forward, licking at Vaas' fingers happily. "Benny, I'd like you to meet probably the most reliable guy on this whole fucking island. Vinnie!"

"Aw, a boy and his dog hah?" She joked, actually showing a genuine smile. What person doesn't smile when they see a happy dog? Honestly. The dog sniffed at her legs and her boots curiously, then licked her knee, looked up at her, and barked. "He's such a lil cutie pie," Benny beamed as she lent down and scratched behind the dogs ear.

"No Vinnie! No! You're supposed to attack strangers not—God Dammit, you're fucking useless..." The pirate lord continued to mutter insults towards the friendly canine, but said canine paid no mind to his master as he continued to lick at Benny's face, laying big white paws on her wrists as it reached to lick the dried blood.

"This little guy? Attack anyone? Oh he's just a big ol' teddy bear aren't ya?" she continued to coddle the overly friendly 'attack' dog as Vaas just glared down.

"Well...I assumed he was reliable. Usually he goes straight for the throat of any stranger he sees."

"You know what assuming does," Benny said in a sing-song voice. "Guy must know that I'm just a sucker for a cute lil puppy face," and she continued to baby talk to the dog until Vaas had had enough. He grabbed hold of the woman's new Mohawk and hauled her to her feet, much to her dismay.

Benny pulled at his hands and thankfully, he let go as soon as he was sure she was done playing with his dog. His dog! What the fuck was HIS dog doing greeting her like that! He was supposed to growl or bare his teeth, or something threateningly. That was what he was trained to do! Stupid dog.

"Well he's not the one I wanted to show you. These two fucks over here..." he trailed off as he lead Benny to the table where the men sat. She quickly recognized them as the ones left to 'guard' her and Brittany. _Well here's these assholes, but where's that Brittany chick?_ She let her eyes wander, but couldn't find the young girl, so she just shrugged off the matter, not really giving two fucks about the whereabouts of the girl. She was curious, but not curious enough to ask or linger on the matter. "Benny this is Bobby," he pointed to the one with the broken nose, "and Rito. Now these little fucks, these—oh they piss me off that's what they do. You recognize them, Benny? Hah?" He circled around the table before both his hands were on each of the pirates' shoulders. They looked ready to just high tail it out of there and Benny could sense the anger rising in Vaas with each word he spoke.

She nodded, tilting her head in curiosity. As she looked towards the two scared men she couldn't help but notice a crude little drawing on paper nailed to the table. "You see, Bobby here, let you escape and Rito here, well, he's just not very good at following directions. And, well, I don't think Rito's very good at listening so I had to draw a picture for him." He pointed down to the picture and Benny smirked. Little stick figure men, poorly drawn trees, a crappy looking...beach? And what looked like some kind of...well...line with a loop basically hanging from one of the trees. In the middle of it all was just a little house with the word 'camp' scrawled on it. She chuckled. The house even had a chimney on it. "Now I'm gonna show you how it works around here...if you make me fucking repeat myself, cuz I fucking HATE repeating myself!" When his voice rose so did the concern of the men and they cowered under him, Bobby slumping his shoulders and Rito flinched.

"Rito what does this look like to you? You watching Benny? Cuz this is how shit goes down when I'm not fucking happy. What do you see, _Rito_ ," Vaas rolled his name off his tongue but he did it with such malice that even Benny knew this wasn't going to end good.

The man stammered. "Uh...the camp and the traps, V-Vaas. Right?"

Vaas nodded. "Very good," he said, like a teacher to a small student and Benny rose an eyebrow. "Now...where did I say the traps needed to be?" He lent down so that his elbows rested on the table. "You see Benny," he rose his head up to look at her. "We set out these traps, mainly for animals and shit, ya know, cuz everybody here is a fucking pussy and don't like to hunt cuz their scared of fucking tigers. But they do come in handy for catching escaped slaves too." He decided it best to leave out his little run in with the traps, though that was the reason he was conducting this little meeting. "But what this fucker did was, hehe, this asshole set them up the complete opposite direction than what I told him too. So where did I say to set em up, hah, Rito?"

The pirate stammered again and pointed to the drawings of the trees on the right side of the camp. "There."

"Really then?" Vaas' seething temper was growing, and Benny could tell he was going to blow any second. She decided to take a tiny step back. "Then why the FUCK were they over here?!" he yelled, slamming his fist down to the little set of trees by the little crappily drawn beach. "Where the fuck did I say to put them?! WHERE!"

"Right there," the pirate whined, pointing his finger to the trees on the right side again. It was this place that the picture was nailed into the table. Benny could only assume what was about to happen.

"Where?" screamed Vaas again.

"There!"

"Where?"

"There!"

"I'm sorry I don't like to-" he took hold of the back of the man's head and slammed his face down on the table, the nail driving into his right eye, "-FUCKING repeat myself!" He pulled the man's head back and let him fall to the ground below, holding his face and screaming a painfilled scream. The other pirate, Bobby, gasped, shrinking back into his seat, staring at his comrad and cringing when Vaas lay a hand on his shoulder. The man was calmer now, a pleasant smile gracing his features and he chuckled. "I'm sorry, Bobby, I'm sorry...did...did I scare you, _hermano?_ Hah? I'm sorry, I just...I just can't stand when people can't follow simple fucking orders. I mean, you know where I'm coming from don't ya? Hah, _hermano?"_ He squeezed the man's shoulders and Bobby swallowed the large lump in his throat.

"See, Benny," Vaas pulled away from the man and gave Benny a smirk. She looked down at the squirming man on the ground, blood seeping into the dirt and it covered Vaas' beautiful drawing, and even left little eyeball parts on the top of the nail. Benny grimaced. _Grody._ "I like to run a tight ship, and I expect everyone to do their part. These two? Heh, they fucked up. And uh...I don't like it when my crew fucks up. Rito can't differentiate East from West and Bobby over here," he patted Bobby's shaven head and the man looked at Benny pleadingly. _What the fuck do you want me to do, dick? Save your life...cuz no, that doesn't sound like something I would be very interested in doing right now._ She crossed her arms and looked on expectantly. "Bobby's too worried about Bobby to guard a couple of girls."

Benny turned her head to notice that most of the men from the camp had pooled around the scene, some of them grimacing at the site before them, some of them chuckling, and some just grumbling their opinions. She decided to step closer to the table; these men were getting way too close for comfort. She turned back to the sound of Vaas whistling as he gestured for another two men to come forward. When they did, he turned back to Bobby, hands clasped together and smiling. "And since Bobby likes to have fun more than he likes to work, perhaps he'd like to partake in a little one of my favorite island pastimes?" He smirked at Benny then down to the cowering man with the broken nose. "Do you like snorkeling, Bobby?"

Before Bobby could protest, the two men Vaas had called over had grabbed hold of his arms and wrenched him away from the crowd. Benny listened to his pleas and calls for help but Vaas just laughed, leaning his arms once again on the table and snickering behind his hands. "Tie him up, put him in the truck. I'll be there in a minute, still waiting on Carlos." A few more chuckles into his hands and he rose his eyes to meet Benny's. "So what do you think?"

Well, all the anger that had filled Benny before due to the haircut and tequila bottle and being tied up seemed to be forgotten and replaced with marvel and curiosity. She watched behind her as Bobby was hogtied and thrown into the back of a truck, the two men responsible waiting idly by for their leader. She looked down to the groaning, now one eye less man, and gave him a little nudge with the toe of her boot. Curious...he wasn't dead. Well, maybe he will be soon, maybe of infection...or maybe Vaas will just shoot him in the head and end it, after all his whimpers were getting a little tiresome. Benny continued to observe her surroundings. Apart from Vaas, Mango, the downed pirate, and the tied up pirate, she thought it safe to say that there were about twelve men occupying the camp. Well...that would be a tough start if Vaas continued to integrate her into his 'club'. She could take on a few, but not a dozen. Hopefully not all of them were interested in rape. Though they all seemed a little wary of a woman pirate. _Men,_ she thought again.

"What am I supposed to think?" she asked, bringing her eyes to his once again, shrugging.

Vaas studied her for a moment, tilting his head in his hands. Curious. She seemed unfazed by the events that had taken place after her haircut. Personally, he liked the look on her. Made her look badass he thought and he smirked at that. She was such a hard nut to crack though, if blood and guts didn't do the trick then what the fuck would? Never in his life had he met someone like her; she seemed to lack any sort of empathy concerning human life and had killed one of his men just because she could. She didn't have to. She just did it. She was an interesting one, he had to admit. But could she hold her own in the camp when he was gone? The only reason the men hadn't already pushed her down and tried to make her scream was because they assumed that he had dibs. That she was his. Crazy bitch, he thought to himself, smirking and shaking his head. Maybe him drawing the blood wasn't affecting her, but could she perform a more delicate task without feeling remorse. "Little Tim!" he called out.

Benny wondered just which one of these pirates was Little Tim. Mango would be the most likely candidate, but he already had a name and she doubted anyone used his real one. None of the other pirates came forward either. _Hmm...wonder who he is..._ Now, if this were a cartoon—or some parody of Jurassic Park—every glass of water would be trembling and rippling, the ground would be shaking, and trees would be falling over as the massive beast that was Little Tim approached the pirate lord. "Benny, this is Timmy, but we like to call him Little Tim."

"Oh. My. God." Was what escaped Benny's lips when she saw the ridiculously tall black man before her, muscles straining under his skin and his head reached the sky. _Can you see my house from up there?_ She stood in shock and awe before the huge man, his dark eyes glowering down at her and the sun shown off his bare scalp...any closer to the sun and he'd burn no doubt...he was pretty tall...and big. "Jesus Christ..." she tore her eyes away from the giant and stared dumbstruck at Vaas, who only raised an eyebrow. "That's Little—that's not little..no that's fucking huge! That's...ginormous, humongerous gigantic black guy!" A very large hand wrapped itself around her neck and she felt her boots leave the ground. Oh snap! This guy was lifting her! With one hand! On her neck!

"I'd be careful, _hermana,_ Timmy's really sensitive," said Vaas, rubbing his fingers on his beard as he still lent on the table. "You might want to apologize."

Benny gasped and pried desperately at the man's fingers, getting rather sick and tired of people grabbing onto her neck. "Sorry dude," she sputtered through gasps. "Sorry...didn't mean...offense, just...really stupid shit always comes out of my mouth." After she thought she was going to lose this fight—well that was obvious—the big brute dropped her on Vaas' command. She coughed and gripped at her neck, massaging the sore skin. The bruises were never going to go away at this rate. She listened as Vaas ordered the giant to retrieve Brittany. The man stayed silent, but he nodded and went about with the order.

Just as he left another man came up to Vaas', very casually actually, as if he was the only one not worried about Vaas' sudden mood swings. "She looked pretty bad," the man said, he too with a Hispanic accent, though his was a tad different than Vaas', slower actually. "Broke pretty much every bone in her leg." Vaas nodded, explaining that he already had a plan for the girl, and that Benny was going to execute it. The other man, his skin tone a bit darker than his leader's, glanced over at her with dark brown eyes; they almost looked black.

"Don't worry, Carlos, Benny here will take care of her. She's got this spark, _amigo,_ this fucking spark...don't ya Benny?" Benny shrugged at Vaas, glancing over the camp and the men again. A few of them had actually taken pity on the one eyed man and had helped him over to one of the shanty buildings, intent on helping to tend to his wounds.

"I like to think of it as more of a fire," she muttered, eying Carlos again. He was actually pretty cute. No, he was very cute. He wasn't incredibly tall, though he was taller than Vaas if only by a couple of inches. He wore a goatee under his lip, and his left ear was pierced twice with gold loops. Rippling muscles pulsed under his skin and there was a scar that ran across his right cheek. _Oooh, another rugged young stud. Lord Jesus, you spoil me._

Timmy came back out to the yard, a whimpering injured Brittany in his arms. Benny winced. Ouch, that was one fucked up leg. She could see the outline of the bone straining against the girl's skin. Icky. He lay the girl down on the table, causing Vaas and Carlos to back up. Vaas chuckled, looking over the bloody and dirtied body of Brittany. Benny tilted her head, letting her arms uncross and lay her hands at her hips. Her mind was finally beginning to settle and she finally came to the realization that Mango and her camera were nowhere to be seen. She quickly glanced around, training her eyes on every inch of the camp. _Where is that little fucker!_ The brunette felt the strong arm of Vaas around her shoulders again.

"Remember this _puta,"_ Vaas asked, waving an arm over Brittany's worn body as she lay bound on the table. "The one you sent running into the jungle...to her doom?" Benny shrugged an answer, and Vaas continued. "Well, turns out, you really did send her to her doom because as you can see, she has broken her leg. Alot actually," he said with a chuckle. "And, it'll take way too fucking long to heal and my men can't keep their hands to themselves the way it is. So...I'm looking at one great big loss of profit right here. Can't sell her, she's damaged goods. Can't keep her around, she's no good here with that leg and quite frankly," he pinched the bridge of his nose as she let out another whining plea, "her whining's getting fucking annoying." Vaas turned towards Benny and met her eyes with his as he held out a knife, one of hers that she had been searching for the previous night. _Asshole,_ she thought to herself as she took the knife from him, eyes never leaving his. She couldn't help it. He had pretty eyes, and she had already admitted it, so...what the fuck.

"And you want me to do...what exactly?" Benny asked, raising a brow.

"Well, like I said, she's completely fucking useless. So," he wrapped her fingers tightly around the hilt of the long knife with his own. _Well, isn't he charming?_ "Be creative."

"What?"

"You like to make videos," he stated, "so you know how to be creative right?" He nodded to the suffering girl on the table. "Be creative."

"Alright..." Benny muttered, removing her hands from Vaas'. _Easy. It would be so easy to just gut you right now._

"You said she has fake tits," he added. "Use that." And he crossed his arms, nudging her with his shoulder towards the girl.

_Well, forget gutting you. This actually seems interesting now._

Benny didn't falter as she approached Brittany, examining the girl's beaten state. There were cuts on her arms and legs from racing through the jungle, dirt covered her from head to toe, and the silohette of her broken bones in her legs was grotesque.

"Please," Brittany whimpered, eyes overflowing with tears as Benny leaned over her, tilting her head once again. "Please..." she watched Benny casually lay the tip of the knife down on her stomach and drag it up her skin lazily. "What are you doing? You said I could trust you!"

Benny gave a false wince, biting her lip. "Yeah...about that." She scratched the back of her neck with the blade. "I lied." She turned around to catch Vaas' stealing a look at her hind quarters. "I did have a dream about you last night," she said with a smirk, thinking now was as good a time as any to mention it. "Vaas."

"Really!" Vaas said excitedly, tearing his eyes away from her rear and bringing them up to her's. "Hehe...was it any good?"

Benny shrugged. "You died."

Well, now that Vaas' mood was completely ruined...


	5. Why Can't We Be Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Benny isn't getting along well...at least she has a handsome debonair Texan sidekick to keep her company.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not one of my better chapters but I gave what I could for what was happenin' at the time. Enjoy.

XXX

Strange Waters

Chapter 5

Why Can't We Be Friends?

XXX

Benny cut as delicately as she could, Brittany's squirming body and constant screeching making it a quite difficult task to run the knife in a straight line. Her pirate acquaintances were nice enough to tie her wrists and ankles to the legs of the table, but that didn't stop the spoiled bitch from flinching and squirming and screaming. Really, it was fucking annoying. Benny rolled her eyes when more pleas came from the girl's mouth. _God, shut the fuck up so I can fucking focus._ She slid the knife further around the girl's left breast, flicking her head to rid a few stray bangs from her eyes. Blood coated her fingers, stained the brass knuckles hanging from her neck, and drenched the front of her shirt; thank God she had worn a black top, harder to stain and such. _Finally!_

Benny let out a relieved sigh as she dug into the girl's chest, wondering to herself, _huh, so that's what the inside of my boobs feel like. Great, another goal to cross out on my bucket list: Find out what the inside of a boob is like. Done._ The girl below her gasped and stuttered, eyes growing wide from the penetration of Benny's hand inside of her body. Her mouth hung open still as Benny removed the silicone sack, grimacing at the blood and slime that a human body could produce and tossed it behind her, deliberately aiming for the pirate lord behind her, who was still a little flabbergasted at what he had heard her tell him no less than ten minutes ago. He was startled when the silicone hit him in the chest, jumping back in a not so manly manner with a not so manly yelp. Vaas sent a glare at every pirate who tried their best to hide their snickers and grins. They were quick to regain composure, some of them even 'ahem-ing' into their fists, quickly averting their eyes from their leader. One even whistled as if he hadn't noticed anything.

It was when the pirate lord looked to the ground to see the silicone filled sack, that he smirked and kicked it a little with the toe of his boot, curious since he had never seen what actually made a fake breast fake. He brought his eyes up to the woman not even five feet in front of him, her face scrunched up in concentration, that is until the squirming Brittany started to shake and spasm. This made the brunette's work even more difficult and she let out an exasperated sigh, removing her knife from the underside of Brittany's right breast and slamming the blade straight into the girl's broken leg, all the while scowling at her face. _Why can't the bitch stop being such a fucking pussy and just take it? She thinks this is bad? Hah!_ Benny decided to voice her thoughts. She twisted the knife into the flesh of Brittany's leg, feeling the vibrations of the metal rubbing against bone, and she moved up the table, so that she was right next to Brittany's head. As Brittany gasped and sputtered and cried, Benny lent down so that she was eye level with the suffering girl, the latter not seeming to notice the older woman. Well, Benny was not happy with this. "Hey!" she yelled, slapping Brittany's face until the girl turned her head, dark brown tired and tear filled eyes meeting the dark green of Benny's. "You think this is so fucking bad?" she asked, raising her eyebrows expectantly. Brittany didn't say anything, just sputtered up more blood. "Take a look at this and tell me that what I'm doin' is so fucking bad." Benny took a step away from the table, lifting up the front of her shirt. Brittany's eyes could barely focus on the large jagged scar running down Benny's abdomen; it cut a line down the middle of her stomach and traveled messily down to her pelvis, disappearing under the waist of her jeans. Some of the pirates winced at the sight, one of them holding his own stomach. Bitch that had to hurt! Benny pulled her shirt back down, still scowling, ignoring the stares of the pirates, a little peeved that Brittany didn't have fuck shit to say about her battle scars. Well then, maybe she'd have something to say once Benny took the rest of the plastic out of her body.

Vaas furrowed his brows, chewing on the nail of his index finger. Damn, he wasn't expecting that. _That_ was a nasty looking scar, nastier than his own and he mentally applauded the woman for showing off such an ugly wound. It wasn't a clean cut, probably done with a serrated blade, and it shown a pale pink color against her white skin. "Nasty business huh?" he heard Carlos' voice beside him and glanced towards the taller man. "Don't get something like that by accident...unless she fell on top of a saw table but," he chuckled, crossing his arms. "I doubt that." Vaas turned his attention to the two girls before him, still knawing on his finger, holding his elbow in his other hand and rocking on his heels. No, you don't, he thought. "So what do you think so far?"

Vaas barely acknowledged the question, too focused on the scene before him. The younger girl spasmed and shook and spluttered out incoherent pleas as Benny dug the knife further into her chest, muttering curses and flicking her hair back every few moments. He had to admit. She was fucking bad. And he liked it. "Hey, Vaas, _cabron,"_ Carlos snapped his fingers near Vaas' ear and the other man leaned away, smacking his hand away from his face.

"Yeah, yeah, I hear ya," Vaas sneered, still not looking away from the bloody scene.

"So..." Carlos said, expectantly. "What do you think? Think it's worth it, ya know, letting a woman into the ranks?"

"Hey, just cuz she can cut a dumb girl's tits out doesn't mean she can hold her own around here.

"Uh, so I guess you uh, didn't notice the bruise on your forehead then?"

Vaas' eyes widened and he reached his fingers up to prod at his forehead, feeling the slight irritation when he poked at the point Benny had headbutted him. When he caught the smirk on Carlos' face, he punched the man in the shoulder, stumbling him slightly. "Man shut the fuck up. That was pure dumb luck. A week with the guys and she'll be nothing but a mess of pussy and tits next time we see her. _If_ we see her. Who knows, might not be anything left."

"Whatever you say, _way,"_ Carlos said, still smirking. Vaas went back to his observing and Carlos shoved his hands into his pockets, biting his lip when he saw Benny land a well placed kick to Brittany's heavily abused leg, causing another yelp and string of crying. Years of working with Vaas, he had grown used to these scenes of torture and bloodshed; he wasn't exactly into performing torture himself, at least not these days. He usually just stood on the side lines, did what Vaas told him to do, and in his off time, gave his leader a little shit every now and then. He smiled remembering he was probably the only person on the whole island who got away with it...

"So what's going on?" Carlos looked down to see the young Filipino making his way to his side, retying the red bandana around his head. Mango had been ordered to clean up the mess of hair Vaas had left strewn around the shanty and took his time doing it, putzing around with Benny's camera until the battery finally went dead. Carlos made a move to answer him but was interrupted by the American girl giving out a 'whoo!' as she finished her work.

"Happy now?" The men surrounding the scene cringed at the sight of the bloody woman with the inside parts of a fake breast in her hand, a knife glistening with blood in the other. She sauntered towards their leader, and they parted like the Red Sea as she approached Vaas, smirking a rather confident smirk. Benny shoved the silicone sack into his chest, chuckling. "Here's a present," and she let him hold onto the the breast implant as she pushed past him, the events of the day taking a toll on her body. She need a nap, some water, and some food, and maybe another nap. Her muscles ached and the effects of the bruises were started to irritate her nerves. She knew she'd hurt even more tomorrow.

"Ew, what the heck is that?" Mango asked, grimacing at the sight of, whatever that thing was, in Vaas' hands. Perhaps he should have come out earlier instead of taking to watching some of the videos on the camera. It looked like he had missed quite the show, as if the whimpering girl tied to the table was any indication.

"This, _amigo,"_ Vaas said with a grin, eyes still glued to the woman sauntering away to the nearest seat. "Is a fake tit." And he placed it in Mango's hand before following after Benny, his men loyally in tow.

Mango made a groaning shuttery sound and dropped the implant, wiping his hands off furiously on his pants, planning that as soon as he got the chance, he was going to scrub them raw. That was disgusting!

Vinnie, Vaas' not-so-reliable-anymore pitbull, trotted over to the implant, sniffed it, then started to lick off the goo and blood, causing Mango to shudder and grimace again. "Vinnie, please don't eat that...ew...gross, oh don't that's nasty." He clenched his eyes shut and turned away from the disgusting dog with its disgusting appetite.

"Hey, wait up, _hermana,"_ Vaas called out before catching up to Benny. "That was fucking...haha, that was fucking awesome. Please tell me you do that on a regular basis-" his congratulatory compliments were cut off when Benny whipped around, her dark eyes boring into his light ones and he felt a sudden stinging sensation in his leg, much like a paper cut...but bigger. Then the feel of a warm liquid running down his skin and glanced down to his leg. That bitch! Here he was trying to congratulate her and the ungrateful _puta_ had turned on him, slashing his leg with the knife!

"That's for chopping my hair off you dickweed!" She screamed, throwing the knife to the ground in agitation and turning her back to the man. Now, one does not simply turn their back to Vaas Montenegro without expecting him to respond in a violent way. With which, he did. Benny suddenly felt very, very stupid.

Carlos, Mango, Timmy, and the other pirates all gathered around to watch the scene of Vaas and Benny trying to strangle each other on the ground. They punched, kicked, scratched, and yelled not so friendly obscenities at one another, dirt and blood mixing together over their clothes, skin, and hair, making them look like a couple of wild rabid dogs.

The pirates tilted their head, furrowed their brows, and crossed their arms, not really knowing if they should maybe help their leader, the woman, or just watch. Vaas was always good at taking care of himself, but he was also easily agitated and could kill a man just for coughing too loud, but the woman, well, the men didn't necessarily want her dead. After all she was a woman, and with the other girl incapacitated, some of them actually wanted to get lucky with this one. But if Vaas killed her, well, then their chances at sexual release would be squashed. None of them were really into the necrophiliac lifestyle.

Mango, paid little mind to the fight, too concentrated on getting that nasty feeling of a goo covered breast implant off his hands. Timmy stood with his arms crossed, wondering if it would just be a good idea to separate the two fuming animals. He had half a mind to fetch a garden hose. Carlos pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and index finger; he could feel the headache he was going to be withstanding after he did this. "Timmy, get Vaas, I'll get the girl."

Carlos and Timmy took it upon themselves to separate the vicious animals, Timmy by hauling Vaas up by the back of his shirt and wrapping his arms around the smaller man, Carlos grabbing hold of Benny's hair to pull her away from Vaas, but not before she got a good punch to his lip with the brass knuckled she had pulled off of herself. She reveled in the sound of the metal connecting with flesh and bone. Carlos then wrapped his own arms around hers behind her back, but the two rage filled dogs just kept barking.

"Vaas! You said she was one of us now!" Carlos yelled, ducking his head back when Benny tried a reverse headbutt. "You wanna kill her so soon, _way_?"

"I'm not gonna fucking kill her!," the pirate lord screamed back. "I'm gonna chop her fucking arms and legs off and watch her flop around like a fucking _piscado!"_

"Not before I chop your dick off!" Benny screamed defiantly, twisting her body in Carlos' hold. "If you even have one!" She let a proud smile cross her features at the sight of Vaas' face, twisted in anger and murder in his eyes.

"You wanna fuckin' see my dick, _pera?!_ Hah? Get the fuck over here and I'll show you what a real fucking dick looks like!" Vaas struggled in Timmy's large arms, but the man was a fucking tank.

"Vaas!" Carlos was getting both annoyed and angered by his leader's and this new recruit's attitudes. Granted he had never seen a new member go after Vaas like Benny had, and a woman one at that. This was probably what pushed Vaas' buttons and sent him into a killing mood, that and the slash across his left thigh. The blood stained the front of his pants leg and some of it even managed to leak down to coat the tops of his boot and Carlos knew it'd need some attention before it became infected with the amount of dirt that had accumulated around it. "Vaas! Shut the fuck up!"

Now, if anyone else on the island had even attempted to tell Vaas to 'shut the fuck up' they would have had a bullet sent straight through their skull or the skin peeled off their bodies. Nobody, but nobody, told Vaas to shut the fuck up. Vaas narrowed his eyes at the other Hispanic, teeth grinding together and nostrils flaring. "You wanna see how she can manage, hah?" Carlos continued. "Then stop trying to fucking kill her."

Benny didn't say anything, though she did have quite the array of snappy comebacks puddling up in her head, she bit her tongue. If she actually wanted to take advantage of an opportunity while she was alive, she should probably stop trying to anger the man who was offering it to her. So she relaxed her body in Carlos' arms, sighing, still pissed off but refraining from doing anything else stupid.

Vaas huffed and stared down at the dirt, catching the blood that ran down his leg, and noticing the knife still neglected on the ground. He managed a smile, averting his gaze to Benny once again, and chuckled. "You're right _hermano._ You're absolutely right." Carlos gave the large man holding Vaas back a nod and he let his arms release his leader, Vaas slightly stumbling as he was let go, but quickly recovering. "I mean...she did want the job right?" He sniffed, put his hands at his waist, and took a step towards Benny and Carlos. "Alright, let her go. But Benny," he pointed a finger at the brunette, who had half a mind to bite it. "You better be a good girl...or I'll take that opportunity, and throw it out the fucking window. _Comprende?"_

Benny, well, all she wanted to do was decapitate the annoying pirate lord, but she sighed, nodded and Carlos released her. "I _comprende."_ She rubbed at her shoulder where Vaas had taken a pretty good tug of, making sure it wasn't pulled out of place. She continued to watch him as he circled around their mini fight arena, throwing his hands in the air and smiling. The dried blood that still covered the half of his face was now layered with dirt, his Mohawk was askew on top his head, and there was a small cut on his lip. _Good, shows you, you fucking dick._ Benny was pretty sure she didn't look much better. She placed the brass knuckled into her pants pocket, and pulled on the strands of the Mohawk Vaas had graciously given her, combing through the knots and tangled. Well, at least her hair would be easier to brush now.

"Good," Vaas said pleasantly. " _Hermano,_ start the truck. We're leaving." Benny turned to watch Carlos look to the sky in a 'Thank God' manner and made his way to said truck, thankful that the fight was over. As Benny watched him, admiring his backside—she still saw him as a looker—Vaas took the opportunity to scoop the knife up off the ground and take a good slice across Benny's shoulder blade. At first, it felt like a pinch, then a papercut, then like a fucking stinging stabbing burn.

"Fuck!" It sounded like a growl as she swung around to stare dumbstruck at the one responsible. Vaas just chuckled, the lines around his mouth growing longer the bigger his smile got.

"That's what you fucking get, _pera."_ And he followed Carlos, whistling for his dog and waving Mango over.

Benny held onto her shoulder, wishing she could shoot laser beams out of her eyes as she glared at the well sculpted back—hey she was going to fucking admire what God had given her—of her new leader, expecting that she was going where they were. After all, if Vaas was the leader, it only made sense that he take her with to show her how things were run right?

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, where do you think you're going, _hermana?"_ Vaas laid a hand against her collar bone, keeping her an arm's length away. Carlos was already in the driver's seat, looking well and ready to go. Mango was sitting in the back, Benny's camera in his lap, with Vinnie the dog sitting next to him, tongue hanging lazily out of his mouth as he prepared himself for the sights and smells of a car ride.

"Uh," Benny nodded her head to the truck. _You're not serious about leaving me behind are you? Come on man, I'm the fuckin' noob here!_

Vaas let another chuckle escape his blood stained lips. "No, no, no, no, no, you get to stay here and make some new friends, Benny. You're the new recruit after all."

Well, this certainly disappointd the brunette. More like agitated her. Vexed her. What the hell! "Little Tim!" Vaas called over the giant brute, climbing into the truck and resting his dirty boots on the dash.

Benny jumped when the tank of a man came to stand beside her, his face in a scowl, as if it were stuck that way due to him never smiling...ever. "Timmy, keep an eye on her, yeah? Make sure she doesn't fuck up." Benny just stared, shock and awe plastered on her face, oh and guffawedness, and she clenched her fists tight. What the literal fucking hell! She then glanced from Timmy to Vaas, Vaas to Timmy, Timmy to Vaas and the pirate lord raised a curious brow at her.

"What!" Benny shrieked incredulously. "What! You're gonna go off and leave me here with..." she waved her hands around Timmy, who just continued to scowl. "Big, tall...and big!"

Vaas pursed his lips together and nodded. "Yup."

"Well where the fuck are _you_ going then?"

"Me?" Vaas scoffed. "I'm going home. You stabbed me in the leg I ain't taking you to my fucking house," he said, this time angrier.

"What! Well...well can I at least have my camera back?" Benny took a chance to lay her hands on the side of the truck, bringing her face dangerously close to Vaas' in an attempt to sway him towards giving in to her demands.

"Fuck you," he said, pushing her off the truck. _Well, he's not very gentlemanly._ "You stabbed me in the fucking leg; I ain't giving you your camera back! Fuck that."

"I didn't stab you, I cut you, stop being such a pansy!"

Vaas was tempted to jump out of the vehicle and pound this bitch's face in, but Carlos hand on his shoulder kept him from doing so. " _Way,_ if we wanna make it back to the compound before dark we gotta go, okay? We still gotta stop off at the eastern camps, we don't have time for this."

Vaas rolled his eyes, groaned, and turned back to Benny, smiling a lying smile. " _Hermana,_ as much as I would love to bring you to my house and introduce you to my _cama,_ you stabbed me in the leg, so I'm gonna have to say no." Benny ignored the glint in his eyes when he said this, crossing her arms and huffing, the irritation in her shoulder blade nagging at her. "But hey, if you can make it here with the guys, maybe I'll consider bringing you with next time. Show you the wonders of my island, yeah? Alright...you be a good _pera."_

Benny growled in her throat. " _Soy no es tu's pera."_ It wasn't the best Spanish she had spoken, but it got her point across, not that Vaas seemed to notice. He just continued to smile, leaning back in his seat.

 _"Una dia,"_ he said, his voice sounding husky and rugged, exciting the horn dog inside of Benny. She ignored her urges, stuck her tongue out at the pirate lord—a rather mature thing for a lady to do—and turned her back to him, not wanting to watch the lusty look his eyes sent her and after hearing Vaas give the okay to go, she kicked the ground, listening to the rusty old truck drive away.

Well, here she was. All alone, in a pirate camp, surrounded by pirates, all of them men, all of them staring at her like she was a piece of meat. A very audible and exasperated sigh came from her lips and she kicked the ground again, sending dirt up into the air. _Stupid dirt._ "I hope you get Syphilis you dick!" She screamed in the direction the truck had been driving, but it was already far into the jungle.

This was it. This was what was going to make or break her. This was why Vaas had left her behind. She was alone, lonely men around her, and the only thing keeping them from throwing themselves at her was her ingenuity. She didn't know when Vaas would be back, if he was even coming back, but with him gone, she would have to stay on her toes, watch her back, and above all else, kill any fucking man who tried to lay a hand on her chest or ass.

A low sounding cough came from behind her, and she half wondered if it was a semi starting up. She turned around to face the chest of Timmy the not so friendly giant. "Jesus Christ man," she sighed, holding her heart. "You gotta do that? Like a fucking ninja, man." She shook her head and rubbed the back of her neck. "You wouldn't happen to be Michael Clark Duncan's cousin by any chance would ya?"

Timmy pointed to the far off scene of Brittany the now silicone-less girl tied to the table, still alive. Benny watched his ridiculously large, and long, arm extend out beside him, equally large finger pointing into the camp. Benny looked to the direction he was pointing, and, in an attempt to get a better picture of what exactly he was pointing at, she stood beside him and jumped, following the direction his finger pointed. "Uh...her?" Benny asked, spotting the barely alive girl across the camp.

"You can start by draggin' her, and the rest of the dead bodies to the beach." His voice was like a thunderstorm, loud, low, and downright scary. Benny gulped, giving a nervous laugh to mask her fear of this...monstrosity of a man.

"Right..." she took tentative steps away from the man. "Um...why?"

"To feed the sharks," Timmy barked, and Benny jumped back, expecting his roarish voice to attack her with its decibels.

"You have sharks?" It was an innocent question, but Timmy wasn't in the mood for twenty questions.

"Now!" his voice bellowed around the camp and even the other pirates startled at the sound.

Benny jumped and jogged back to the camp, eager to be away from the giant man. As she approached the table where Brittany lay, ignoring the looks of the other pirates once again, she took to untying the bonds. Best to get this over and done with before that behemoth came along and stepped on her. Brittany's breaths were in short gasps, her eyes half lidded and staring off at the sky. Benny followed them, admiring the bright blue atmosphere and fluffy white clouds. The image of Timmy pounding her into the ground though shook her out of her admiration and she quickly undid the rest of the girl's bonds.

Brittany was complete dead weight. Not that the girl was a heavy girl, being only five foot four and weighing roughly 120 pounds, she should have been a breeze to drag, but no. As Benny dragged her by her ankles the girl's shoes popped off, sending Benny sailing to the ground. The surrounding pirates laughed and pointed like high school bullies and Benny whirred her lips in agitation. _Assholes, I don't see them doing this._

_That's cuz this is grunt work, and you're the grunt._

_Shut up!_

Why to the beach? Why feed the sharks. Why drag the bodies all the way to the fucking beach?! There were trees, rocks, and a fallen log that made the trek all the more difficult for the brunette as she pulled the body along, slipping in soft soil and scraping her knee.

_Should've never cut off your pants legs, Benny._

_Shut up!_

Really, it would have made more sense to drag the bodies into the road and burn them and then dispose of them once they were a hundred pounds less of flesh and muscle. But nooooo. No, she had to drag them all the way to the fucking beach just so a boat could come along, load them up, and dump them into the ocean. It was fucking ridiculous.

Benny dropped the girl's ankles, letting her legs land on the ground with a thud, and took a seat against one of the varying trees, breathing deeply. She wasn't a weak woman, she was strong and worked out and had muscles that many women dreamed of having but were too lazy to gain themselves, instead following the social norm of staying skinny and meek; it sickened Benny, the way women these days paraded themselves around like prizes to be won. Benny didn't much think of herself as a prize; more of an obstacle. Something that only the worthiest of men would have to overcome in order to gain her affection. She enjoyed being difficult and making men work for what they wanted, unlike most women who jumped at the first compliment they heard. Once again, the thought of modern day women sickened Benny and she kicked Brittany's leg for emphasis. The girl didn't seem to acknowledge the attack. She was near unconsciousness and her whines and whimpers had turned to groans and moans. _Beginning to sound like Terri,_ Benny mused, scoffing and running a hand over her sweat slicked brow.

Water. She would kill for some water now. Sweet delicious water...she didn't care if it came from a cowpie field, anything to quench her thrist and hydrate her drying throat. Benny hadn't had anything to drink since early this morning, and the drink being nothing but tequila, probably not the best thing to gorge yourself on in the jungle but, Benny shrugged, at least she had gotten some alochol, though its effects were long gone. Food too. Food would be good. A nice juicy steak smothered in gravy and Famous Dave's hamburger seasoning. Benny licked her lips and closed her eyes, laying her head back against the trunk of the tree. Ah, steak. Steak, steak, steak. The rumbles in her stomach continued, the emptiness making her whine for something, anything to eat.

A groan sounded from the limp girl on the ground, her bare chest covered in blood, dirt, and silicone gel, compliments of Benny's knife puncturing one of the sacks. "Don't worry, Brittany," Benny said, reassuringly. "I ain't gonna eat you," she said with a chuckle and nudged the girl's leg again.

Water, food...maybe she'd be allowed the luxury once she got back to camp, but she had three other bodies to move and asking Timmy for a better alternative to move said bodies was out of the question. He had just grumbled at her, pointing his finger to the jungle towards the beach, and left it at that. "A nice cold beer," she whispered to herself. "A Bud Light. Ah yeah. Bud light." Her mind wanderd back to her early years, before she became the cold blooded killer. When she would sneak out at night to meet boys down by the river for a mini tailgate party with plenty of beer to drink and music to dance to. What were their names again. She knit her eyebrows together in concentration. _Billy? No...Willy? No...Wally! Yes...Wally and...hm...Jarrod. And Beth..._ she hated Beth. Such a perky preppy simple minded dumb blonde with good grades, average tits, and a habit of spreading her legs for every guy in high school. She never said it aloud in school because it would be considered inhumane, but she was glad that Beth got into that drunken car accident and died. _Dumb bimbo._

Benny felt the ground below her tremble and a branch break and she was brought out of her not very exciting memories by Timmy's bellowing voice and permanent scowl. Benny jumped up, dusting off her bottom of the dirt and looked up to Timmy. "Hey...hey Timmy," she said with a wave of her fingers. "Whatcha doin' out here?"

"Makin' sure you're doin' your job. Looks like you ain't," he said, crossing his arms and glancing down at the dieing girl below him.

Benny winced. "Well, dude...I'm fuckin' thirsty-"

"You'll get water when you're done." His voice boomed and echoed through the trees and Benny stepped back nervously.

"Dude, this is gonna take all day! I ain't even got this chick to the beach and-"

"Keep complaining and I'll make sure you won't get any water!"

His voice almost sent her sailing through the air with its force and she sighed dejectedly. Realizing there was no arguing with the man, she grabbed Brittany's ankles once again and continued on through the trees, Timmy following her every step of the way. The silence between two people annoyed Benny and although the large man sent a shiver up her spine, she thought it only appropriate to try to start a little conversation.

"So," she grunted, stepping over a fallen tree and grabbing Brittany's ankles again, dragging her underneath it. "How long you been working for Vaas?"

The man glared but didn't answer. _Ok, so he doesn't like to talk about work._ "Got any family?"

He still didn't answer. _Okay he doesn't like to talk about his family either._ "What do you guys do for fun around here?"

He didn't answer. _Okay..._ "What's your favorite color?"

"Just keep moving. If you're lucky there'll be supper left for you by the time you're done."

Benny's stomach rumbled once again. _Ah, food!_

… _..._

The sun was setting by the time Benny dragged the last body through the trees. It was Terri's and she wasn't overly fond of the feeling of his skinned off bones and muscles. She could see his feet were nothing but bone and it was both interesting, and disgusting. _Grody,_ she thought as the bone rubbed against her side, pulling at the fabric of her shirt.

Terri was the third body she would drag to the beach. She had gotten Brittany and the dead pirate there with little ease, but she was glad she was almost done. She pulled the mutilated corpse through the sand, watching as the grains stuck to the sticky muscles and blood and bones and hair. Terri had died long before she had even gotten to him, and Benny felt a little disappointed. How could she hold up a conversation with a corpse? Brittany wasn't far off. Blood loss, shock, and dehydration was getting the better of her and her heart rate was starting to slow, her lungs reaching a collapsing state.

"Here ya go Brittany, I brought your boyfriend," Benny said with a wide smile as she slung Terri's body next to the dying girl's. Brittany didn't look too interested, and Benny was insulted. "What? Just last night you were so worried about him and here he is and you...you don't give a fuck? I don't get it? Why is it cuz he's dead? Dead guy ain't worth your time huh? Alrighty got someone else in mind? Eh, I wouldn't put it past you. Ya look like the kind of girl to get around behind your boy's back." Benny decided it was time for a break and took a seat next to Brittany's dying body, crossing her legs and leaning back on her arms as she placed her fingers in the sand.

"It's beautiful no? The sunset over the ocean? Well...to the side of the ocean...whatever. Fuckin' gorgeous though." She looked down to Brittany, but the younger girl only stared up at the sky. Benny felt helpful and turned the girl's head so that it faced the ocean, the waters glowing with the orange light of the sun. Benny wasn't joking. She really did believe it was beautiful. Even with murderous pirates swarming the island there was no denying this. A murmur and Benny glanced down to the black haired girl, seeing her lips moving, but the words were incomprehensible with the small distance. Benny lent down, her ear next to the girl's mouth. "What? I didn't hear you. Did you say something."

The faintest sound of a 'fuck you' crawled from Brittany's lips and Benny rose her head, smiling. "You sure you want those to be your last words?" She rose her eyebrows but Brittany didn't make anymore attempts at speech. "I bet you wanna join your boy hah? Make amends and all that fun stuffs? Don't worry, I can fix that." Benny rose to her feet in one fluid motion grabbed Brittany, this time by her wrists and drug her through the sand to the welcoming waves of the ocean waters. She pulled her in until the water reached Benny's ankles and the brunette came around to the side of the mutilated girl, placing her hands under her back and rolling her over until she was laying face down in the water. After the effort, Benny took a seat on Brittany's back, pushing the girl into the sand and water. "Won't be long, girl, and you'll be back in the loving arms of your wonderful boy over there," she waved to the body of Terri, as if Brittany could see him. Naturally, Brittany was unable to.

The water soaked through Benny's boots and over the back of Brittany, soaking the seat of Benny's dry pants. Ah well, she thought, biting the nail of her thumb, picking it off until it was of reasonable length. _Vaas was kind enough to leave me my clothes so_...Brittany's body started to jolt, small little jolts that Benny took the time out to notice. The water was filling the girl's lungs, Benny knew, and she smirked. "Finally, you're alive! Haha." Benny slapped the cheek of Brittany's ass to extenuate her excitement. "Come on girl. How alive are ya?"

The jolts didn't last long, and Brittany's body lay still on the shore, her hair a tangle of inky tentacles floating on crimson water. Benny lay down on the girl's back, prodding her head with her finger. "Brittany? Brittany?" She called, as if expecting the drowned girl to answer. Brittany didn't. Benny swung her body back up, looking down at the head of the now dead girl. "You're welcome," she whispered pleasantly, a wide grin spreading across her lips. It started in her fingers, the rush, and it quickly built up to spread through her arms and legs and it squeezed her heart in a teasing manner. It was almost as good as sex, this feeling and she let it flow through her body like ecstasy, reveling in the embrace the it had on her. Everything else seemed to fade away. She giggled, chuckled, then hung her head back and laughed up to the sky.

Timmy had been keeping a close eye on the woman. Following her through the camp and jungle, never lending a hand, making the girl do all the work. Perhaps it wasn't such a good idea. He watched from the tree line, arms crossed as he lent against the trunk of a tree, cocking his head to the side. Benny wasn't like the other girls, the ones coming to find work among a pirate horde. She was remorseless, cold, brutal, and devilish. When she let that laugh escape her lips, he felt a tingle in his spine. What he saw out there wasn't some woman with an agenda to get rich quick. He saw a reflection of Vaas.

…...

Benny's mood quickly dropped when she stumbled back to the camp. Her legs were pulsing in protest to her walking and she wanted nothing more than to drop to the ground and sleep. Her body begged for it, her eyes were tired, her shoulders were slumped, and each foot worked its hardest to rise from the ground with each step.

"Look who finally made it back," announced one of the pirates, his hair an oily black his eyes a piercing blue. "Whas the mattuh sweetheart? Too much work? Break a nail did ya?"

Benny glared with her tired eyes, waving him off and plopping down on the nearest chair she saw. By the looks of it, everyone had already had their share of supper and beer and she doubted they would tell her the whereabouts of the alcohol if she asked...but she was tired and felt like being stupid. "Where's the beer? I could do for a drink."

Another pirate, this one skinny and shirtless with a red bandana wrapped around his head came up to her, unbuttoning and unzipping his pants to place a beer bottle into them and thrusting it in Benny's face. "Right here, lovely. Just gotta reach in and grab it." He spoke with an accent Benny couldn't rightly place in her tired state. Maybe Irish...or Scottish...she was too tired to tell if he rolled his r's or not. Hell, he could have been Canadian for all she knew. The others laughed and hooted and Benny licked her lips, blinked, and punched the bottle, elicting quite the whine and holler whose nether-regions had been squashed beneath the glass bottle. As he doubled over, Benny grabbed the half drunk bottle from his pants and pushed him, not having to apply much force as the man sailed to the ground. She took a hardy gulp, wiped her lips with the back of her arm and lent back in the chair, forgetting about the whooping pirates and the groaning one on the ground. It would take too much effort to move to look for food. Luckily, she didn't have to.

"For you, mi'lady," came an overly charming voice of another pirate. Strange, his voice sounded almost, maybe, genuine. Benny glanced to her right to see a tin plate of not very tasty looking rice shoved in her face. She took a peek at the pirate offering her the plate and deduced he was cute. With blonde hair naturally highlighted by the sun and flirtatious blue eyes. She then looked down to the food. The rice looked fucking burnt. She sighed. She had arrived too late apparently. "Where's the meat?"

"Over here!" said yet another pirate, standing and pointing to his crotch. This was getting redundant and Benny was tempted to murder them all in their sleep.

The friendly pirate chuckled at his cohort, but his smile was nice. "You're a little late. It's all gone." Wow, he sounded a little sorry. "Bottom of the barrel's all that's left."

Benny sighed but took the plate of 'bottom of the barrel' rice, then decided it was funner to stare at it than eat at the moment. "Uh, you ain't gonna get much full just by staring at it."

"Fuckin bitch!" the pirate she had assaulted was now on his feet again and ready to pull a knife on her before the blonde pirate pushed him aside.

"Leave her the fuck alone, Lee. You wanna keep your fuckin' nuts you'll go back to your seat." The blonde man meant business, and his accent was becoming familiar to Benny. Was he southern? Like, from the states? Like...Texas? Georgia? Mississippi? Alabama? Arkansas?

Lee coughed, glaring at Benny then back at the blonde. "She took my beer Scotty,"

"You offered it," the blonde—Scotty—sneered, and waved the pirate off. "So," he turned his attention back to Benny. "You gonna eat that or not?"

Texas. Definitely Texas. "Uh...not with you staring at me expecting to eat it," she said with raised eyebrows, looking down at the burnt rice.

"I wasn't talkin' about the food." Oh, he was flirtatious was he? Well Benny would have to fix that. Before she could stick the fork into this pirate's kneecap, he rose away from her and took a step back, placing his thumbs into the loops at the waist of his pants. "On a more serious note, Benny, was it? Might wanna sleep with one eye open. 'Specially round Lee. Fucker's nuts." He swirled his finger next to his head in a 'cuckoo' gesture before offering the woman a rather dazzling smile. "I ain't gonna protect you all the time." And with that, and another dazzling smile, he walked back over to the fire where the other pirates were seated.

Well, that was...weird. Either that man had the literal hots for her or he had a plan to sneak his way into her pants. Either way, Benny was having none of it. She didn't know where any of these dicks had been, nor did she want to.

An hour went by, then another ten minutes and Benny was ready to crash. The supper was less than astonishing, the atmosphere was less than exhilarating, and the entertainment left much to be desired. Just a bunch of men sitting around a fire talking about sex, drugs, sex, and dry humping each other. It was like high school all over again.

When only one pirate was left at the fire, this one passed out in his chair from alcohol consumption, Benny thought it safe to retire for the night. She went in search for Timmy, knowing he wouldn't give her any trouble in showing her where she would be sleeping. Timmy may have been a force to be reckoned with, but he wasn't some crazy ass rapist. Benny believed that under that big hard exterior was a fluffy teddy bear that just wanted a hug.

"Hey, Timmy-" his scowl stopped her mid-sentence and she stammered, waving her finger in the air as if that would help him to decipher her babble.

"What is it?"

Yeesh, his voice still sent a chill through her. "Uh...it's uh...ya know, pretty late. I was just wondering, ya know...where I can crash..."

Timmy brushed past her, his huge body almost sending her to the ground, but she quickly recovered her footing and followed the dark man as he stalked towards one of the shanties. He pushed open the door and waved her in. Well...talk about cramped space. Just a slew of cots spread out along two walls, most of them already occupied by alcohol and drug induced men. There were only two open, and she wondered why there were less beds than there were men. Timmy had mentioned that there were usually two men on watch, sometimes three, but still not everybody got a bed. The other shanty across the way from them housed all their supplies: drugs, weapons, food...Benny wasn't going to ask why the food was in with the drugs. And the biggest shanty, the one she had ransacked, was where Timmy slept when Vaas wasn't there. Made sense, considering he seemed to be the leader of this heard when Vaas was absent. Benny had heard him barking orders to the men earlier, threatening to hang them up by their toenails should they fail to do their duties. _Huh, Daddy always used to say that to me and my brother when we were little._

"Pick a bed," he ordered. Benny quickly jumped for the first open cot she saw, glancing around at the shoddy interior before bringing her eyes back to Timmy.

"Um...where's my stuff-"

"Back in my place," he said gruffly, and Benny flinched. _Can't he be fuckin' nice about anything?_ "You can get it in the morning."

"Right," Benny breathed out, rubbing at her sore shoulder. Timmy had been nice enough to clean and dress her wound but he could have at least offered her a blanket. The jungle air was cooler at night than during the day and she would have appreciated at least a sheet, or even a sweater. Timmy made an attempt to exit the building before Benny called out to him. "What? No good night hug?" The look on his face suggested anything but a 'good night hug' but he approached her nonetheless. Benny cowered back on the cot, squeezing the metal frame and feeling herself shrink. Timmy's glare was hard and Benny wondered for just a second if slapping him might change his facial expression. Thank God she had the common sense to not slap the man. She may have done stupid things, but nothing that stupid. She watched Timmy's hand reach to the knife holster on his leg and she had a fear tingle her spine. _Ah crap he's gonna murder me isn't he?_ Timmy's hand opened the holster and found the handle, his eyes all the time on hers. _God even his eyes are scary. Dammit, this guy needs to make a living in slasher films. Seriously._ He pulled the knife out and held it out to her. Benny pursed her lips and hesitated before reaching up and grabbing the knife, letting out a breath she hadn't been aware she'd been keeping in.

"Alotta guys wantin' to be takin' advantage of you. Thought it only fair to give you a fighting chance." Benny swallowed and looked up at the man. His voice seemed, well, not so anger when he said this. Like he, like he was actually...was he concerned for her well being?

A sudden smile spread across Benny's face and her eyes squinted with glee. "Aw, Timmy!" her voice raised several octaves and she sounded more or less like a five year old girl. "You DO care. Aw man...come on, man, bring it in." She held her arms out, welcoming the larger man into an embrace. Timmy though, only glared at her, his scowl back in place and Benny felt the mood to be awkward suddenly. "No hugs? Okay...you're not a hugging guy," she let her hands fall back to her side and she fiddled with the handle of the knife in her lap. "I get it, I get it. You got a big bad image to uphold, yeah okay...alrighty." Timmy grumbled something under his breath and left the room, also leaving Benny to the mercy of near a dozen pirates.

The thought of pirates attempting to force themselves upon her didn't seem to seep into Benny's thoughts once Timmy left. With a knife in her hand she lay down on the cot, no pillow, no sheet or blanket or even a sweater; her boots still soaked her feet but she even didn't seem to notice that. She was struck by a tiredness that she dearly needed to satiate. When she lay back her muscles tensed in pain, the cut on her shoulder blade screaming for her to turn to her side. Begrudgingly, Benny turned her body, taking the pressure off her aching shoulder, but applying more to the rest of her muscles. She was fucking exhausted. With one last look at the sleeping pirates around her—she thought she caught a glimpse of the blonde haired, blue eyed, southern boy Scotty take ownership of the cot nearest hers—her eyes closed of their own accord.

…..

_Turtles. Why turtles? Turtles didn't mean anything. Yet here they were, swimming in the pond just a block away from her childhood home. Hundreds of them, crawling up the grassy shoreline, swimming through the mossy water, crawling over one another. Why the hell was she dreaming about turtles?_

She felt the fingers at the waist of her pants before she was fully awake. She murmured, fidgeted, and mumbled. It was when the fingers had yanked her jeans down her legs did she come to, and with a fit of rage. With practiced movements, Benny swung her body around to land a hard punch to the jaw of her assaulter. She couldn't tell through the darkness which pirate it was, but his accent when he started to curse at the woman told her it was that Irishy Scottishy Canadian man from the fire. She saw his silhouette move through the darkness and she reared back and kicked the man in the chest, sending him across the room and over a sleeping pirate who awoke with a start and yells. Benny quickly removed herself form the cot, and, not wanting to be caught with her trousers down, pulled her jeans back up.

Scuffling sounded from the other side of the room and she knew that that Irish Scottish Canadian fucker was hellbent on getting at her. She felt around for the knife, sure that she had fallen asleep with it, but in her dream state, there may have been no problem for the man to have found it and removed it from her person. The scuffling was coming closer and as her eyes adjusted to the darkness, the gleam in his eyes started to shine through the room. Benny's heart raced as she backed away from the man, still holding the waist of her pants up. Fucker had cut through her belt. Just fucking peachy.

Then she felt it. The metal object in the front pocket of her jeans and she reached it, grabbing the brass knuckles. The brown eyed man neared her, sneering and growling and the neighboring pirates only muttered their objections to him rousing them from their slumber. The man's teeth bared and she saw the glint on one particular tooth. _Fucker's got a gold tooth. Nice._ He came at her, arms thrown back to administer a series of punches but one quick slam of her metal clad knuckles sent the man flying. Benny once again felt the excitement meld inside of her at the sound of metal crashing into a man's jaw. God it felt fucking nice.

One punch wasn't enough to take him down though and he came again, this time aiming for her midsection, but with trained effort, Benny blocked it with her leg and landed another punch to the man's temple. She was sure by now the pirate knew of the metal in her hand and wasn't going to allow for her to swing at him again. When he charged, his tackle rivaled that of a professional linebacker and Benny was sent through the door and onto the deck. The pirate leaned over her, his brown eyes glimmered with a malice that Benny feared. She took the punch to her face and listened as the man cackled before her, commenting on her finesse. Before he could land another punch, Benny had gained some momentum and was able to roll them over.

With Benny on top, she could clearly see the shine his gold tooth gave off in the night's moonlight, and she smiled, giggled like a school girl, then brought up her knuckles and sent them straight to his sneering mouth. She heard the enamel of his poorly cared for teeth crack under the pressure of the metal and she smiled. Another punch. Another. Another and another and his jaw finally gave, pieces of cavity filled teeth flew to the ground and landed with little clicks on the wood. She had managed to get both of his eyes twice, his jaw three times, and his mouth...that was her goal. Something was going to come out of this fight...and it was going to be that tooth.

Benny reigned down a flurry of brutal smashes to the man's face until blood started to clog his windpipe, causing him to choke and sputter. Blood shot from his mouth onto Benny's face and chest. Another punch, and she could see her goal was in reach. The man was struggling not to drown in his own blood, his hands moved warily to block his face, but Benny's attempts at that tooth, oh and to show this would be rapist that she meant business, were strong. Once more punch. _Yes! I am victorious!_ She waggled the tooth from it's place in the man's gums before ripping it out and holding it up to the moonlight. "Take that, asshole," she breathed out to the man.

Her knees shook and groaned when she stood, placing a boot on the man's chest and admiring her prize. Yes, it was just a gold tooth, but it was _his_ gold tooth, and she had taken it from him. _That_ was worth the strain. Her chest heaving and sweat starting to cover her body once again, Benny giggled, noticing Timmy's massive form across the camp, watching her. She grabbed onto the railing of the deck and kicked the unconscious man's—hopefully he'd be dead by morning—body under the rails. She then waved a hand at Timmy and back to the man on the ground. "I'll...clean it up tomorrow," she said with a snicker and wandered back into the shanty.

Placing the tooth into her pocket, Benny lay back on the cot, knuckles still squeezing her fingers but she seemed not to notice. "Thanks for the back up there, Scotty," she said, blowing a breath to the ceiling.

"Not a problem," said the blonde man, smirking in the dark.

"Nighty night."

…..

Punching a guys teeth out obviously didn't deter the others from giving her shit. After she had changed clothes the morning: another pair of cut off men's pants and a red tank—school colors she thought—courtesy of Scotty, she found herself eating once again, 'bottom of the barrel' food. She was one of the first ones out here! How dare they serve her bottom of the barrel...oh! Come on!

She was then put in charge of cleaning up the breakfast dishes. And of course the men just kept piling on the dishes. Taking the newly clean ones, dirtying them, then bringing them back. Benny was dumbfounded. What a bunch of...oh! She couldn't think of the word.

Dishes weren't the worse yet. Cleaning up after the goat was a chore in and of itself. The damn thing wouldn't stop shitting and butting her.

She didn't even want to think about laundry day.

Two weeks in and Benny was ready to slit someone's throat. Or at least knock one of these fucktards unconscious. Scotty would throw a few comments and flirts her way, but that was usually the extent of their conversations. Timmy stayed to himself, like he always had, only mentioning to her once that she should have told him she didn't need a knife to protect herself. "It's not for protecting," she stated. "It's for fun."

Her itch to hit something with a dick was killing her and she noticed a couple of pirates wrestling in the center of the camp. She meandered over, placing her hands on her hips and observing the scene. Two pirates, she remembered them being Luis and Pierre, a Mexican and a Frenchie, fought for dominance over one another. Luis was the one to call uncle first and Pierre let him out of the brutal looking headlock he had him in. Luis crawled away, rubbing his neck. Benny smirked at the victorious Pierre as he waved his hands to his fellow pirates, beckoning any of them to take him on. Benny stepped forward, but the French man just sneered at her and grumbling accompanied him by the men around him. Even the beaten Luis scowled her way and Benny was baffled!

"What? Scared I'll kick your ass!"

The pirates all waved her off and deserted the scene. This was ridiculous. What? Was it because she had killed one of them and knocked another's jaw almost off? _What a bunch of pussies!_

The same thing happened the following day when the men were arm wrestling one another. When she took a seat to challenge the winner they all once again walked away, grumbling amongst themselves about the woman pirate. Seriously _! What the mother fucking hell!_

Another week and Benny was secluded once again at supper time, sitting at her own little chair in her own little corner, glowering at the men around the fire. She wasn't going to lie, she preferred the company of men to women, but now that she had that, the men didn't want anything to do with her. They didn't even send perverted comments her way anymore. Aside from Scotty, who still flirted but kept his distance—this she did not like either—the men seemed to treat her like she was some kind of leper. Like getting close to her was going to get them some kind of deadly disease. Benny frowned, picking at the food in her lap with a fork, leaning her head on her other hand. The arm wrestling was what got her the most. Her dad was one of those arm wrestling champs of the town when she was growing up. Hell it inspired her to actually work out and get muscles of her own. She was the strongest girl in her grade growing up and could even beat some of the guys at arm wrestling. She couldn't believe it. These guys were alienating her and she was pretty sure it was because she had killed their men.

They were even starting to call her crazy.

Another week. That marked three and Benny's need for bloodshed or at least a punch to a human being's face was driving her up the fucking wall. She was half tempted to just punch in Scotty's face when he made his morning announcement for her to accommodate his 'morning wood'. But, she just sucked it in, letting it build up inside of her like the Blob. But if she didn't satisfy the need to kick some poor bastards face in, she was going to go on a massacre.

She looked in the little hand held mirror as she sat on her cot, fuming over the events of the past few weeks. She touched her head, feeling the hair on the sides finally starting to grow back. It wasn't making fast enough progress for her liking, but it was something, and she was grateful.

Benny sighed into the mirror. The bruises were fading quick, but she felt disappointed. Vaas had crossed her thoughts every few moments, whether it be his smile, a nod of his head, a flick of his wrist, or a wink of his eye, he was always doing something in her head, and Benny...well honestly Benny didn't know what to think. Sighing she placed the mirror down on the floor and pulled a notebook from her duffle bag, thankful Vaas had at least allowed her to keep that. Flipping through the pages filled with little doodles and crappy sketches—yes Benny was a right brained woman who liked to draw on paper as much as she liked to draw blood—until she came to a blank page. Taking the pencil from the binding she started by drawing a line.

There was something about that man, something that just intrigued her. Was it quite possibly his bubbly personality? She guessed his eyes for one. They were the kind that grabbed you, hypnotized you, made you do things you didn't think you could do. His smile was...perfect...at least she thought so. Straight teeth that he no doubt brushed daily. That scar, she thought. Maybe it's the scar. _Something he got that's as personal as my own...wait...did he see mine? I don't remember. If he did, you'd think he would have said something._

_His friend's really cute too._

_Carlos? Yeah he is cute._

_But Vaas is handsome._

_Dammit._

Twenty minutes went by and Benny hadn't even noticed the door opening until Scotty sauntered in in his ever present southern glory. "So whatcha draw'n?" he asked as he lent over the woman's shoulder. She sighed and closed the notebook.

"Nothin," she said, staring off to the wall which suddenly became more interesting than doodling on paper.

"Really now," and the Texan snatched the notebook away from her, flipping through the pages.

"Dicks!" Benny shouted, rising to her feet and clenching her fists. "You prefer your balls hanging under your dick, you'll give that back." She threatened. _Please say no, please say no, please give me a reason to drive a steak through your heart._

Scotty offered a smirk before shrugging, dropping the notebook back to the cot and raising his arms in defense. "My bad," he said, his thick accent coating over his words. "Jus' curious is all."

"What the fuck did you come in here for?" Benny muttered as she sat back down on her cot, running a hand through her finally brushed Mohawk.

Scotty walked over to his own designated cot and took a seat across from her, leaning up against the wall and pulling his knees up. "It's your turn to go on watch tonight," he explained. "With Timmy," he added with a smile.

Benny's shoulders slumped. As much as Timmy was growing on her, what with his constant scowl and violent demeanor, their conversations were a little one-sided. Benny would have killed for a decent conversation, and the closest she got were the moments with Scotty.

Like clockwork, Scotty ended their 'conversation' by rising back to his feet and heading out the door. "Great," Benny mumbled to herself, throwing the notebook to the floor. "Five hours of watch with Little Tim. Huzzah."

Literally, Benny could just kill someone right now.

XXX


	6. Holy Rakyat!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first action sequence I have ever written ever. Congratulations.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The ending's a itsy bitsy corny but guess what...I don't know what, I thought you had something in mind.

**XXX**

Strange Waters

Chapter 6

Holy Rakyat! (Well if that didn't give away the chapter)

XXX

Another day went by and Benny laid her head back on her cot, using her clothes for a pillow and, placing her phone on her stomach, let her mind drift away to the sound of music. No, not the muscial The Sound of Music. Actually, Little Bitty from Alan Jackson played first when she hit the button. She left it on shuffle and closed her eyes. She had about an hour before she had to go on watch with Timmy for the second time and she was going to spend it away from the men and their asshole attitudes.

The loud squeak of the shanty door alerted Benny from her music induced trance of small town living and mud bogging and she peeked an eye open to watch the blonde Scotty saunter in. He cast her a flirtatious smirk before going around the side of his own cot and kicking it over to hers until the frames touched. Benny knew what was coming. This would mark the fifth time he had done this in the past three weeks. When everyone was off doing their own thing and leaving Benny alone with her thoughts, Scotty would interrupt her self isolation, bring his cot along side hers and lay down. Sometimes he didn't say anything, sometimes he said a lot, most of it though just rambled nonsense like what he had done during the day or things he had done long before the shit that landed him here on the island. Every time he came in though he would grab one of Benny's ear plugs and put it in his own ear, listening along to the music she was playing.

"Tough day at work, honey?" Benny asked playfully as he grabbed the ear plug from her left ear.

"Boss is really piling on the paper work, dear," he said back, smiling up to the tin ceiling as he lay next to her.

"You're gonna have to ask for a raise soon. The kids gotta go to college sometime, ya know." Benny's sense of humor always seemed to make Scotty laugh, which he did now as he pulled out a pack of cigarettes. Handing one to Benny who took it greedily—she found it hard to come by cigarettes with selfish thieving pirates around—and lit them both up with the Zippo he pulled from his pants pocket. Benny took a long drag, holding it in for a few long seconds before letting it out through her lips, sighing at the sweet release her nerves experience from the nicotine.

They lay like that for several minutes, taking puffs of their cigarettes and listening to the sounds of country until the song changed to an upbeat rap. Benny flipped over the phone on her stomach to examine the song. Homies from ICP. She liked this song, but Scotty seemed uninterested in the genre for he began to speak.

"So how's life been treatin' ya?" he asked plainly, eyes fixated on the off light bulb hanging from the metal ceiling.

Benny's eyes stared at the same light bulb and shrugged. "Pretty good I guess. Guys are still being dicks but, hey, what can you do right?"

"Could cut their nuts off," Scotty said nonchalantly.

"Yeah," Benny said, distracted by her thoughts. Vaas still plagued her mind, his mesmerizing eyes still boring into her even without him being here. She could still feel it, his stare, see his smile, hear his footsteps, his voice. Even without the scars and Mohawk he would still be pretty easy to spot in a crowd just by his voice. It wasn't one of those low monotone voices she was used to. There was a high pitch in it, a slight rasp, and not to mention the threatening authoritative accent that coated it. It was interesting and hard to forget. Benny narrowed her eyes at the ceiling with her memories of the pirate leader.

Benny took another drag and let it out, grateful for the chance to smoke a cigarette again. Scotty was the only one to share them and for this, she was relieved. "What do you know about Vaas?" She hadn't even realized she had said it aloud until blue eyes stared at her, as if studying her curiosity. Why the hell would she ask him something like that? Benny's eyes met Scotty's and the blonde man shook his head, taking a drag of his own cigarette and pulling his free arm behind his head.

"He's a badass motherfucker," Scotty said with a frown, bringing his gaze back to the ceiling. "Crazy too, I swear to God. Ya know, he gutted a guy just for looking at him wrong. If that ain't fucked up I don't know what is." Another drag and he furrowed his brows. "Don't do nothin to Carlos though, 'side from a punch in the face." A shrug. "Guess everyone needs a friend huh? Even Vaas." With this he chuckled and took another drag, letting the smoke out slowly through his nose.

"Well, I assumed he was a badass motherfucker," Benny said, rolling her eyes, the image of Vaas gutting someone for some piddly little thing not seeming to effect her. "I mean...what's his story huh? Nobody gets like that just because. I mean...something had to happen to him right?"

Scotty shrugged again. "Fuck if I know. I ain't the guy's mother. You wanna know, you'll have to ask him yourself. Can't guarantee he'll give you a legitimate answer though. All I know is, he was a Rakyat and then he left. That's it."

"Really?" Benny asked, eyes wide at Scotty. "You're serious, he was one of them? I wouldn't've guessed..."

Scotty chuckled and stubbed his cigarette out on the floor before flicking the butt out of the open window above their heads. "Yeah well, like I said, you wanna know about him, you're gonna have to ask him yourself. 's not like I play twenty questions with the fucker."

Scotty seemed disinterested in continuing the conversation as another song came on. A country song Benny ignored as she gazed back to the ceiling, sighing. It sounded like Johnny Cash. Her empty stare caused Scotty to turn to her once again, pursing his lips in curiosity. "Why you so interested anyways?" he asked, rising up to lean on his elbow.

Benny finished off her cigarette regretfully and flicked it out the window as Scotty had done. She shrugged. "He just seems interesting," she admitted, still staring up at the ceiling, though not really noticing it there anymore.

Scotty scoffed and shook his head at the woman. She was fucking crazy. "You're fuckin' infatuated. You women, you see a nice lookin' peace of meat and you just cling on to their fuckin' legs like you'll die if they leave you." He laughed to himself, looking down to the floor before bringing his gaze back up to Benny, who only glared with dark eyes at the man, chewing on her cheek.

"It's not infatuation asshole," she stated, annoyed by the blonde man next to her. His proximity was suddenly suffocating and she felt the urge to push him off the cot. "I'm serious. It's not every day you meet someone like Vaas. Fuck, it's not like I wanna jump in bed with the guy." _Yes you do._

_Shut up, no I don't._

_Liar._

_Okay, maybe if he bought me dinner first, I'd consider it._

_Liar._

_Shut up._

Scotty just raised his eyebrows at the woman suggestively. She grumbled and reached a hand to the side of her cot where her notebook lay. She flipped through the pages until she found the one she was searching for. There he was, a simple little head shot of the pirate lord leaning his chin on his knuckles. She cursed her photographic memory and bit her lip, showing the sketch of Vaas to Scotty who didn't seem to know what to think at the moment. Bitch was fucking obsessed. "I can't seem to do his eyes justice. That's why I wanted to know about him," Benny explained, ignoring the looks the Texan gave her, a tiny smirk tugging at his lips. "So I could get his eyes right. Ya know, his past, his pain, his experiences. Eyes are the windows to the soul dude. I'm not fucking infatuated, I just saw something different that's all. He's _different."_

Scotty studied the sketch; she had the pirate lord's features down to a pat, even the scars gracing his scalp, not to mention the most noticeable of them. But, she was right. She couldn't get his eyes right. Yes she could draw his eyes well, but there was something missing in them and Scotty shook his head again. Honestly, he didn't quite know how this woman's brain operated. Here she had taken the liberty to draw a picture of the man who had knocked her unconscious, threatened to sell her into slavery, punched her in the face and cut her hair, and she complained that she couldn't draw his eyes right. Well, she was certainly a different breed of cat herself. "Got any pictures of me in there?" he asked, smiling. He wasn't about to dwell on his leader with this woman like he was her gay best friend.

Benny rolled her eyes and flipped back a few paged and shoved the notebook onto his chest, crossing her legs and whirring her lips. She played with the locks of her Mohawk—she hadn't figured out what to do with it besides tie it back behind her neck—and waited for the Southern man's response. It came.

"Hot damn, darlin' you make me look good." Well if his smile didn't express his enthusiasm the kiss on her temple certainly did and she pushed him away, though she did feel rather good about the compliment.

The sketch of Scotty was like Vaas', a headshot, though Scotty's was a bit more suggestive. Benny felt proud of her work. She had gotten everything down the best she could from his blonde hair reaching past his ears and curling at the ends, to his smirking lips to the slight stubble around his jaw. She had even gotten the freckles on his nose and under his eyes. Benny thought these to be his cutest attributes, not that she would ever let him know. "Where'd you learn to become such an artist?"

Benny smiled, taking the notebook away from him before the man orgasmed over himself. "Just a hobby really," she said, flipping the book closed and laying it beside her once again. "I'm more of a...starving artist if you will. I prefer to profess myself in other...means for money." She gave the man a gleeful smirk and he returned it. They lay next to each other again, having nothing more to say of the matter and let the songs slip them into a world of unreality. Benny liked this feeling, of doing nothing but wandering around inside her own mind. Yes, she admitted, she was lazy, but what was better than just lounging around doing nothing? Especially when you've been working your ass off for the past three weeks doing degrading grunt work with no reward of respect or acceptance. Not to mention life hadn't been very exciting since her last moment of quality time with Brittany. She wondered when the action of pirate life was going to start.

"You got kids?"

Well that question had certainly come out of nowhere and it snapped Benny from her comotose like state of mind wandering. Her eyes shot open and she stared dumbfounded at the blonde man, his smile friendly and genuine. It took her a moment to realize what he was actually asking her and she let a snicker escape her lips before rubbing her eyes. "Hells naw," she blurted, laughing. "No man, I hate kids. Never liked 'em." She shook her head and smiled humorously, gazing once again at the ceiling, as if that had suddenly become something fun to look at. "Don't think I could ever imagine myself having kids." She giggled and tapped her foot on the floor.

"That's a real shame, darlin'," Scotty said, reaching a hand into the back pocket of his cargos. He pulled out a wallet, opening it up and pulling out a photograph, the edges torn and a there were a couple of creases. He held it up for Benny, smiling happily. "Kids are a wonderful thing."

Benny looked at the picture in his hand, biting her lip. There were two young girls in the photo, looking around between the ages of eight and six, blonde and with bright blue eyes. Good God they looked just like Scotty. "Your's?" she asked absentmindedly, narrowing her eyes at the photo as if it had gone out of focus.

"Beautiful ain't they?" Scotty said with a sencerity in his voice, gazing at the photo like a pleasant memory. Benny figured it must have been for the man, seeing his eyes soften at the sight of the two small girls. "That's Abigail," he said pointing to the older one. "She'll be twelve in a couple weeks. And that's Courtney, she just turned eight," and he pointed to the younger one. _Okay, so my_ _math was off. I was never very good at math anyways._

Benny tilted her head at the picture in Scotty's hand, not quite sure of what to say. What do you say when someone shows you a picture of their kids that they probably haven't seen in months, heck maybe even years? "Cute kids," she muttered, biting her lip again.

"Yeah, trouble makers though, I tell ya what," he said, bringing the picture back over his own eyes, gazing at it with an emotion Benny couldn't quite place. Maybe loss, sadness, regret, she wasn't sure. "I remember, couple years ago, hehe, they wanted to paint their room. Their mama said no but, hell, they were bound and determined to do it anyways. So these two little devils take their crayons and markers okay, and they just start scribblin' all over the walls. They were drawin' ponies and unicorns and all kinds'a stuff on the walls. Just, everything you can imagine a couple of little girls drawin', that's what they did. Well, hah, they're mama wasn't too happy bout that."

"And uh, where were you when they did this?" Benny asked, pointing at the picture of the girls.

"Me? Huh, I was posted out of Afghanistan, just waiting to get home back to my wife and kids. Called 'em every chance I could."

Benny nodded. "Okay...so uh...how do you go from married with kids in the army to pirating around on a uh, how do you call it, island of death and suffering." Really it was the best she could come up with...

Scotty's smile hardened then, and he replaced the photo of his daughters back into his wallet. "When I got back home, I found my wife had been sleepin' round with this motherfucker from the neighborin' town. Worst part was," Scotty paused, rubbed his eyes, and Benny thought she heard a small growl in his throat. "That 'motherfucker' was my brother." Benny's eyes widened. "Crazy shit right? Here I am riskin' my fuckin' life to provide for my wife and kids and that two-timin' bitch is off runnin' round with my own blood. What the fuck did she expect me to do huh? Just fuckin' take it? Accept it? I mean," he chuckled, running a hand through his hair. "I come home hopin' to surprise her and she is on the kitchen table with my fuckin' brother! How the fuck am I supposed to take that?" He looked at Benny expectantly, as if she knew the answer.

Benny stiffened on her cot, biting her lip once again and narrowing her eyes at the man, not sure if she should respond. Ah, what the hell. "So how did you take it?"

Scotty scoffed and shook his head again. "Not so well, I'm afraid. Grabbed my shotgun outta the case, stuck it in his face, and shot 'im. Boom. And that was that. Left town 'fore the cops found me, kept runnin' well over a year before windin' up here. Ain't gonna lie and say I haven't done any other wrong doin's durin' the trip."

Benny let her eyes wander over Scotty, not just his face but his whole anatomy. He was well muscled man and tall. His wife beater stuck to his torso with sweat that shined on his sun-tanned skin, his jaw was strong and his lips were full; half the time Benny was tempted to kiss them. Scotty was attractive, and his accent when he spoke just added to his shmexiness. Benny watched his long fingers fingers run through his blonde locks again, his bright blue eyes gazing up at the ceiling in thought. He looked almost sorry. "Good thing you shot him and not your wife," she blurted, quickly wondering if that was an appropriate thing to say, then shrugging it off, realizing she didn't rightly care.

Scotty brought his eyes back to hers, a frown on his lips and question in his eyes. "What?"

Benny let her eyes wander again over his broad shoulders and she prodded one with her finger, not really noticing as she traced the tribal design he had tattooed around his shoulder. "Well, if you shot your wife, where would the kids go, hah? I mean, someone's gotta take care of them. Don't think the cops woulda let you have 'em."

Scotty rose an eyebrow at the comment. Well, he had certainly never heard _that_ response to his story before. The guys he had told just shrugged and nodded, the women he had told voicing their sympathy for him, but Benny...had she just thought about it? About the outcome of what he had done? He shot his brother and this woman said 'good'? Well...it was official. She was definitely a different breed of cat.

"Ya got a point there, darlin'," he said, smirking, finally taking notice of the brunette's fingernails dragging across his shoulder and bicep.

"Makes sense if ya think about it," she said, her mind once again absent as she stared at the smooth skin of Scotty's shoulders. The man laughed in his throat and leaned up, looking through the window.

"Gettin' dark. You should prolly head out before Timmy comes searching for ya," he said, chuckling as Benny's face contorted into one of annoyance.

"Ugh," she muttered, throwing her hands over her face. "I don't wanna go to work," she whined through her fingers.

"Come on now, girl. As much as I'd love for you to stay and keep me company, the kids' need to go to college so come on. Get up." He removed the headphones and her phone from her stomach and pulling her off the cot by her wrists dragged her to her feet. Benny begrudgingly stood, slumping her shoulders and whining, finalizing her dislike of having to go on watch again by stomping her foot on the floor. Scotty shook her shoulders and smiled. "I got a surprise for ya," he said, poking the woman in the cheek.

"Wha-a-a-at..." Benny whined out, bouncing up and down in contempt.

"Close your eyes." Benny just stared. "Come on, now, close 'em, otherwise it won't be a surprise."

Benny rolled her eyes to the ceiling, deciding it best to humor the Texan before heading off, and she closed her eyes, brows raised expectantly.

"Good. No peeking now." Benny frowned and crossed her arms over her chest, whirring through her lips again. "Alright." Scotty moved over to where his cot had orginally been previous to his kicking it over to Benny's and reached down to rifle through his belongings, digging through clothes and other possesssions before smiling at his goal. He checked over his shoulder to make sure Benny's eyes were still closed, and, seeing that they were, he strode back over to the woman, wide grin on his face. "Alrighty, open 'em."

Benny opened her eyes to be struck with a sheath of throwing knives thrust into her face. At first, she was taken off guard by the objects being shoved right into her face, but her surprise was taken over by the biggest smile Scotty had ever seen. "Oh my God!" Benny screamed like a school girl, grabbing the sheath and hugging it to her chest. "Oh my freakin' God, I fuckin' love you." Before the Texan knew it, the woman had flung herself onto his body, wrapping her arms around his neck and her ankles around his waist, the sheath of knives lodged between him. Scotty at first was taken aback by the woman's enthusiasm, and only became fully aware of it when she jumped off of him, catching her knives in her hands. "Oh my God, thanks so fucking much! Ugh, I've been dying to get these back!" Just as the blonde offered her a grateful smile, Benny's lips collided with his, once again, taking him aback. Well, this certainly was unexpected. And just when he was about to return it, finally, he thought, the woman pushed herself off of him, still smiling gleefully. Disappointment struck like a steel kick to the gut and he frowned. Benny seemed not to notice as she rushed to the door, whooping and hollering and dancing around the camp, causing a few puzzled expressions from the other pirates.

Scotty sighed. He was so close. So fucking close. Well, he'd have to make sure to get her something better than knives if he wanted to get past second base. In the meantime, he figured a cold beer, another cigarette, and then bed would be a plan.

…...

Benny's happy reunion with her long lost love, er, her knives, was shortly lived once she was put on duty with Timmy, and the man certainly didn't share her enthusiasm. Benny grumbled at his attitude as she walked alongside him, wishing the man could be fucking happy for something. Anything. What was it going to take to make this man crack a smile to her?

With her knives placed neatly about her body, she suddenly felt a powerful energy she hadn't felt since she had killed Brittany. It tickled her heart and every once in a while she would smirk, giggle, smile, then quickly regain composure when Timmy would send a glare her way. _Fuck him. He obviously doesn't feel any emotion._

_Oh I'm sure he does._

_Yeah. The emotion that pertains to breaking my neck every time I try to talk to him._

What Benny quickly realized about Timmy after her first day here was that the man wasn't much of a conversationalist. Any man that talked to him, he'd offer a comment or opinion and that was that. Not much conversation otherwise. And whenever Benny asked him a question the death glare he sent made her want to run and hide behind the nearest cover.

"Look at this, Timmy. I mean just look at it! It's fucking amazing isn't it?" Benny asked enthusiastically, waving one of her blades around in front of her, leaning forward in her seat and running a finger over the double edge, up, over, down. Oh she was in fucking Lala Land. She turned to Timmy, who was seated about ten feat away, cradling a large, badass looking assault rifle on his lap. His emotion still hadn't changed, but Benny continued nonetheless. "Dark Knight edition. Pretty sweet huh?" Timmy seemed uninterested in the fact that her blades were created in the same likeness as the ones in a Batman movie. Benny rolled her eyes and admired her knife once again. Sleek, black, and beautiful, and she twirled the metal around her fingers, every movement coming to life in her memory, and it only took one try to get it right. Ah, how she had missed her knives.

As Benny rambled on to Timmy about the background nonsense of throwing knives, the larger man kept his dark eyes on the jungle just yards before them. The faint sounds of wildlife—he caught the growl of a carnivorous large cat—and the rustling of the leafy tree branches in the winds kept him calm. There were no other movements in the night, and for this, he was grateful. The less run ins with the Rakyat they had, the better. And the less the native people attacked their bases was better still. True he had no problem taking down a few Rakyat warriors, but he was growing weary of the game. The warriors would attack, then the pirates would attack, then the warriors, the pirates...he was growing tired of this. Someone needed to come out on top in the end, but for every Rakyat they killed, there was another ten or twenty to replace them.

"Hey, Little Tim," Benny's voice sounded in his ears and he hmphed in her direction, eyes still fixated on the tree line, scanning through the bushes for any unusual movements. It had been quite the past few weeks, and it worried him. When the woman called his name again, he set his dark eyes on her, hoping to death glare her into a corner where she'd leave him alone. "Whoa dude," Benny said, holding her hands up, a black blade still gripped in one hand. "Sorry, but, do you ever smile?" Benny asked, bringing her hands back down to lay at her lap, but then brought one up to gesture to the man. "I mean, didn't your ma ever tell you that if you keep making a face it'll stay like that? I mean...did you scowl too much as a kid or something? Cuz I swear to God I ain't never seen you smile." She ended her rant with a small smile, as if the myth of 'smiles are contagious' were actually true. She'd been smiling at the brute for weeks and he never returned it.

Still now, Timmy just glowered at the woman and she sighed. "Christ," she muttered, looking out to the dark jungle scenery, catching glimpses of fire flies. _Aw, pretty!_ "I mean you look like a pissed off gorilla."

Maybe that wasn't the right thing to say. "Was that a racist slur?" came Timmy's booming voice and Benny flinched, gripping the metal handle of the blade tight.

"What! No, no, no, man! I mean...I don't...I'm not racist...I'm totally cool with...uh, black people?" She winced as the man continued to glare. "I-I-I mean, African-American...right? You are...um, American? Yeah? So that's like, politically correct, African-American right? I mean...what is it, is black okay or is it racist these days or-"

"Shut up," the man barked, tightening his own grip on the rifle in his hands, turning his attention away from the stammering woman.

"Shutting up," Benny said, shrinking back into her seat, the sudden enthusiasm for the return of her knives ripped away. _Way to go, Benny. Why don't you just say the 'N' word for effect?_

_Shut up!_

An hour passed and Benny swore her ass was falling asleep. Night watch was horrible. You did nothing but sit on your ass picking your nose, expecting some kind of danger to come jumping out of the corner. There were three of them on watch tonight. Her and Timmy at the front of the camp, and Luis the Mexican guarding rear. There were another two patrolling the shorelines in boats, though these two men were not a part of Benny's piratey comrads. They hailed from another camp a few miles up.

Benny sighed, leaning her chin on her palm and flicking the blade about with her hand. She had kept up her throwing practice with the knives accessible to her around the camp, but nothing was better than a blade built for the sport. She twirled it around her knuckles, rotated it under and back over her hand with swift movements of her wrist, then twirled it again. This was so fucking boring. Well, she might as well try to strike up another conversation with the behemoth of a man next to her. "So you got any hobbies?" she asked, eying the man, wishing he could do something other than look down at her and scowl. The man didn't answer. "Ya know, like knitting...or stamp collecting..." Timmy furrowed his brows at the woman, glowering. Had she just asked him if he knitted! He shook his head in agitation and looked out once more at the surrounding area, catching a few stray deer run into the trees down the road. "Maybe strangling? You look like the kinda guy who enjoys a few good strangling sessions with prisoners, yes?" Timmy didn't answer, and Benny left it at that.

Being a pirate, Benny had expected a little more action than what the men came up with around the camp. After all, they were in the slave and drug trading operation. There were plenty of drugs, but where the fuck were the slaves? These guys didn't have any problem hauling her here and the other two unlucky souls. Maybe it was just a fluke. After all, according to the word from the other camps, tourists were coming in left and right. So where the fuck were her tourists? Benny was disappointed. Maybe she should have hung onto Brittany for a little longer, tie her to a post and visit her every day with maybe some plyers or a cheese grater. But, Vaas had wanted her gone...

"Dude so I had this _crazy_ ass dream the other night that me, The Joker, and Batman had to save Christmas." Well this got the giant's attention, though probably not the friendliest facial expression. It was more or less a what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-you expression. "Like, an evil super villain had poisoned Santa and planted bombs in a bunch of the sacks that the toys were in, and me and Joker were all like, 'Bruce, we gotta help Santa and save Christmas!' and Batman was all like 'I'm not so sure about this' but he did help." The what-the-fuck expression was still plastered on Timmy's face. _Call me crazy bitch, I don't see a problem with my subconsious running off when I'm asleep and can't control it. "_ He did help though, but he was a little peeved about doing it. Don't know how it ended though..." Benny rubbed her chin with the handle of the knife, face contorting to one of thought, as if delving into the possible outcome of her dream was really that important.

_It is important. I wanna know what happens!_

"Wanna know how I got this scar?" Benny turned to Timmy once again, pointing to her stomach with a smirk. She had obviously forgotten her story about the dream. The man glanced over to her, scowled once again, and then looked away.

"Well, funny story actually-" Benny stopped midsentence when she caught a glint of something in the trees. What was that? It was either a person, or a really small bear. Of course, it could have also been some kind of cyborg for all she knew. Hey, she was an open minded person and thought often of the outcomes of situations, whether they be plausible or not.

"What is it?" Wow, finally some kind of reaction from the large man and he rose from his seat on the metal fold out chair, observing Benny then turning to the jungle.

Benny curled her lips and narrowed her eyes. "What the-"

Before either of them knew it, an arrow had shot through the air, whizzing past Benny's face, sending a small wind through her pony tail'd Mohawk, and stuck right through Timmy's left shoulder. The man grunted and stumbled, dropping his gun in the process. "Oh fuck!" Benny shouted, ducking down as another arrow shot over her head, landing into the wooden door of the shanty behind her. "Fuck, fuck, fuck," she grabbed hold of Timmy's wrist and they ducked down behind the camp wall. A rather poor excuse for a wall really; just an assortment of pieces of tin piled atop one another before a chain-link fence. The 'wall' didn't even surround the entire camp, which meant they had limited cover of a few pieces of tin wall, shanties, and crates. And by the sounds of multiple men shouting from the tree line, cover was going to be the least of their problems.

A slew of arrows attacked their measly cover and Benny could feel the metal shake from the barrage of the attack. "Sound the alarm!" Timmy yelled, breaking off the end of the arrow in his shoulder, gritting his teeth.

"Right, alarm!" Benny dove from the wall and sprinted her fastest to the faded red power box, boots pounding into the earth below her, heart racing from the yells coming from behind her. _Alarm, alarm, alarm, alarm, alarm! Come on, Benny, just get to the alarm and-_ Another arrow flew past her and impaled the power box on the wooden pull just feet before her, sending sparks flying. Benny dropped into a slide in response to the arrow that had flown over her shoulder, destroying the camp's only means of reinforcements. Great, just fucking great. Benny quickly rose from the ground and dove behind a nearby crate, hand still clutch the throwing knife. Fuck, what the fuck was she supposed to do?

Assault rifle shots. She peeked over her cover to find Timmy sending a flurry of bullets at the native men storming into the camp. Benny squinted her eyes, trying her best to determine just how many targets were raging towards the camp. Ten...maybe. At least after Timmy shot down a good three of them...wait...yeah there was about fifteen. She had never actually seen the Rakyat before, save for the burnt one Vaas had shown her. She had only heard of them so far. They were fearless men, covered in tattoos and seeing no means to wear shoes. 'Well trained warriors' Scotty had said. 'Don't turn your back on those fuckers.'

"Shit!" Benny growled, ducking down once again as another arrow flew her way, imbedding itself into the crate. If she could fucking get a good look at the men, she'd have a better shot at nailing one with her knives. She still wasn't issued a gun and it annoyed the piss out of her. Sure she liked sharp things better, but when getting bombarded by arrows, a gun would have been real nice right about now.

The door to the men's sleeping quarters burst open—of course they had been awakened by Timmy's firing gun—and Scotty was the first to jump out, his blonde hair a mess on his head, boots not even tied; he had also failed to put a shirt on. The man wasted no time in rising from bed and reading himself halfheartedly. Benny stayed under cover, watching the Southern man raise a Military style shotgun and fire it into the belly of a charging Rakyat. The tattooed man fell dead before the Texan, a large hole in his torso. Two more warriors raced towards Scotty as the accompanying pirates charged out from behind him, guns out, knives at the ready, and one even lighting up a Molotov. _Is that really a smart idea in such a small amount of space?_ But the Molotov man's throwing arm was more powerful than Benny had realized and he slung the burning bottle just past the gates of the camp, the bottle quickly breaking in the road and alighting an unfortunate Rakyat. _Alright, I take that back. Go Molotov Man!_

Gun's fired, blades shinged and shinked against one another, men shouted in English, Spanish, French, and whatever language it was that the natives spoke. _Maybe some form of Malaysian? Ah what do I care, I can't even speak Malaysian._ That's when Benny saw it. One of the warriors had driven his machete straight through the chest of one of her pirate companions. The poor man didn't even know what hit him as the warrior pulled the long blade out, a sickening wet noise following in its wake as he kicked the impaled man to the ground and looking around for another unsuspecting target. Alright, this was her chance. Benny stood, knife placed tightly in her fingers, and winding her arm back she let her arm snap forward like a slingshot, sending the deadly blade through the air. _Fuck!_ Her aim was off and the knife had managed to stab into the warrior's left bicep. She had been aiming for his chest. Okay, so she was a little rusty, and practicing with hunting knives wasn't exactly the same as practicing with carefully manufactured throwing knives. She hadn't adjusted the weight and she missed her fucking target! Just great!

What was just as great was when the wounded warrior glanced around to find the person responsible for the knife in his arm, and his dark eyes rested on Benny. She swallowed, grabbing at another knife at her side. The look on the man's face went from rage to puzzled in a milisecond. Was that a woman throwing sharp pointy weapons at him? Before the man could comprehend what exactly he was seeing, Benny let another knife go and that puzzled expression quickly turned to one of dread as the blade sliced through his neck, planting itself into his throat. He fell choking on his blood after feebly trying to reach the weapon lodged inside him. _"_ Hells yeah! Suck on that dick!" Benny hooted, feeling rather proud of herself. Of course, she probably should have been paying more attention for as soon as her ego felt like it had reached the sky, an arm was around her her shoulders and a blade ready to plant itself in her jugular. Quick thinking and an insane amount of luck—for this warrior was rather big and strong and almost reached Timmy's own height—she manged to catch the man's wrist before he could plunge the weapon into her neck.

Benny used every ounce of strength she had to push at the man's hand, desperately trying to keep away from the pointy end of his knife. The man was much stronger than her though unfortunately, and she could feel the tip of his blade poking at the skin of her neck. _Great! Just fucking great. My first Rakyat fight and I'm gonna fucking die! God dammit this sucks!_

And Benny would have met an untimely demise, that is, if it weren't for the thundering bang of a shotgun behind her. She startled, and a mess of brain matter and skull fragments cascaded down over her head and face and she felt the large man fall behind her, the mass of his body pushing her forward causing her to stumble. Looking back, completely oblivious to the rest of the battle behind her, she caught Scotty, pumping the gun in his hands, a smirk on his face as he met her green eyes with blue. "Oh, Scotty-too-Hotty," Benny breathed, relieved to be saved by her fellow American. "My hero," she mused.

"All in a day's work, ma'am," the Southern said, smiling cheekily. He didn't respond in time when Benny's eyes widened and she yelled out his name. Scotty turned too late and felt the sharp end of a blade drive itself into his side, just below his ribcage. Crying out, he wrestled with the native man driving the knife further into his body. His shotgun fell to the ground as did he and the native. The Rakyat warrior pulled the knife from the blonde's body and brought it over his head, initiating a killing strike to the man's heart.

In the fray, Benny had watched Scotty's gun fall from his hands as he was brought to the ground by the native. Out of instinct, she grabbed up the gun as the warrior raised his knife, and aimed it straight for his head. Another brainy mess fell, this time on Scotty, and Benny rushed to the man's side, her heart pounding like a bass drum against her chest. _Shotguns. Oh how I_ love _shotguns!_ Scotty's hands clutched at the wound in his side, his teeth gritted together as a 'fuck me' fell from his lips. "Don't worry, honey," Benny said, smiling at the man. Her smile though was more for the rush of blowing a man's brain out with a heavy duty shotgun. Oh how good that had felt. She helped her comrade as best she could stumble to the cover between two shanties where she lay him to rest against the tin wall. Blood flowed from his wound, coating his hands and waist in a thick crimson fluid and the Southern man still chanced a smile at the woman.

"Don't worry, bout me, darlin'. I've had worse scrapes than this," he said, doing his best to mask his pain. He was a man God dammit and he'd be foolish to let a woman think him a pansy.

"Oh I don't doubt it," Benny responded, smiling back. No better time to smile than when your life was at stake. Scotty's wound didn't seem too bad. It seemed to have missed any vital organs or arteries and she dubbed him liveable before rising to her feet.

Leaving Scotty to rest, Benny grabbed his gun and headed back out into the fray of raging pirates and Rakyat warriors. "Holy, testosterone," she mumbled, raising the gun, pumping and firing at the first Rakyat she saw. He fell to the ground, a gaping hole in his side. Benny's heart raced again, the tingle coming back into her arms and legs and she was ready for a fucking fight!

Maybe it was the fact that it was dark. Maybe it was because of all the hustle going on around her. Hell, maybe it could have been her raging ego and killing two men in less than five minutes. Whatever the reason, her moment of victory was shortly lived as another warrior with just a few less tattoos than the others and lengthy black hair charged at her, taking her by surprise as he flung himself into her body and grabbing at the gun.

Benny's grip was tight, but it was slowly weakening as the sweat from the humid night greased her hold on the gun. The man above her was pulling at it, pushing it into her face, and pulling again, attempting to wrench it from her hands. He pushed it harder this time and struck her in the chin. _Ow! You dick, ow!_ "You dick," she muttered as the gun was pulled from her grasp and thrown to the ground. The long haired man had her pinned, straddling her waist, one hand grabbing at her throat and squeezing tightly. _Oh, come on! Not this again!_ Benny grabbed his wrist, digging her nails into the flesh, clawing and scratching the asshole but he seemed unphased as he pulled a deadly looking weapon from his belt. _Oh, fuck me!_ The knife he held was more like a serrated machete and it shined in the moonlight as he held it over his head.

Benny continued to berate herself with a slew of 'fuck me's' in her mind when she came to a marvelous realization. _What a minute! I have knives! What the fuck am I doing?_ Now, her thoughts and future actions took place in no less than two seconds. As the man pulled the machete out and rose it over his head, and after a moment of Benny cursing herself, she took a hand off of his wrist and brought it down, knowing that although the knives at her waist were inaccessible, there was still one at her side. Her fingers fumbled desperately trying to find it, her world turning hazy from the man's tight squeeze on her throat. She couldn't breathe, nor swallow, and just as her world was about to turn black for good, she found it.

Pulling the black double edged blade from it's sheath, she thrust her arm forward, hearing the sounds of blade impaling human flesh. Oh what a lovely sound. The man's face turned quickly from emotion to emotion, from anger to stunned to confused to worry. Not only had he seen an actual living female pirate, but he was about to die from the hands of an actual living female pirate. Over the shouts and screams and gunshots Benny listened as she pulled the blade out from her opponent's stomach, then thrust it back in again, pulled it out, then thrust it back in, pulled it out...all the while reveling as her knife made sweet love to the man's torso.

The warrior's machete fell before he did and Benny sputtered and coughed as his dying limb loosened its hold, his heavy body falling on top of her own. Well, as well muscled as his chest was, Benny wasn't overly fond of a dead man's carcass laying leisurely on top of her and she mustered the strength to push the large man off of her, breathing in satisfaction as his dead body rolled off. _Phew, that was a close one._

Benny reached her arm out for the shotgun, grabbing it in one hand while rubbing the fingers of her knife hand at her bruising throat. _God, why is everybody on this island so obsessed with strangling!_ Rising slowly to her feet, Benny coughed again, blinking her eyes to bring her world back into focus. Well shit...

Three men. Three tattooed and armed Rakyat warriors stood around her, their emotions buzzing together in a tangled mess. Benny could only assume what their thoughts were while running to the aid of their now dead amigo. To put it simply, she imagined it went something like this: 'Hey, a woman pirate! Hey, a woman pirate? Okay, so they have a woman now, no big deal, she's just a woman. Alright, so she's got some fancy knives, so what? I can take on a woman. Holy shit, that woman just killed our buddy! Okay let's surround her. No way she can take us all on.

And hence the three on one battle commenced.

Benny rose the shotgun up to the first charging warrior, though a little too slowly seeing as how she had just nearly been strangled only a few moments ago. The first warrior knocked it away with a rose elbow, grabbing the butt and sending the gun flying, bringing his other hand up to take a swing at her head. Benny blocked it with her forearm, raising the knife to cut across his shoulder when she whirled his arm around. The cut was clean but in no way deadly and the man swung around, his own knife in hand went for a pointy weapon uppercut instead. Benny grabbed his wrist, skipping to the side and kneeing his stomach, then, as he was doubled over, rammed her knee into his face, another kick to the stomach, then the ribs, then the face and the man was on the ground.

The second man came hurling forward, hoping to take her by surprise from behind, but Benny heard the souls of his feet on the hard earth and ducked, whipping around, grabbing his knife hand and, while crouched low, sent her own knife into his side. Dammit, she missed the sweet spot. He'd live if she didn't take him down. She pushed him forward, keeping a good hold of his wrist, and as he came back like he was connected to a bungee cord, sent a good heavy punch to his face, popping him right in his left eye. His head flung back and as it did, she flattened out her hand, knife still delicately placed between her thumb and palm, and she sent a nice chop into his neck, then, raising her palm up, slammed it into his nose. _Hope I broke it!_ And in the end, she closed her hand around the handle of the knife and drove it into the side of his neck, blood quickly leaking out onto her fingers as she twisted it and pulled it out, the man slinking to the ground and coughing as he started to drown in his own blood.

Benny's smirk was one of satisfactory and it quickly grew to a wicked, toothy smile as she turned her attention to the remaining man. Out of the corner of her eye she saw two of her fellow comrades spewing bullets into their enemy's body, another pirate slamming a machete down into the skull of another man, and one more pirate shoving a rifle into a warriors mouth as he fell to the ground, the bang of the gun sending a tremor through the earth as it blew a mess into the warrior's skull. Her glee grew and so did her continuing urge to impale a human body with something sharp.

Benny's smile sent the warrior for a loop. What the hell had they run into? This woman? She wasn't just some woman that had come along to the island for an island get away. He stared dumbfounded at the brunette, clutching his machete tightly, his hair sticking to his face and shoulders with sweat. A few locks of the woman's own hair had come out of the pony tail, trailing down the sides of her face sticky with a mess of blood and sweat. She stood proudly before him, twirling her knife in one hand, grabbing at another at her waist with the other. Droplets of blood ran down the bridge of her nose from Scotty's shotgun blowing a mans head out over her, and it dropped off to land at her upper lip. The warrior watched with bewilderment and distaste as the murderous woman before him flicked her tongue out, licking away the red drops on her lips, smile widening. The warrior hesitated. He was in for a trip, and he knew it.

"Round three," Benny said, giggling. "Fight."

Two knives now in her hands she lunged at the man, fixated on just bringing the two knives into his chest but a lifetime of training and discipline and know how prepared the man for the attack, and he raised his machete, catching the knives on the blade. The three blades screeched together as they rubbed metal to metal, falling off of one another as both opponent's pulled away. As her knives fell off the machete, she raised her leg, sending a kick to the man's chest and he stumbled back, but quickly recovered his footing and brought his machete to the side, swinging it at her midsection. Benny jumped back, sucking her stomach in as the end of the machete just barely touched the fabric of her shirt. As his swing ended Benny bent forward, knife extended to initiate a stab to the face but he was quick to bring his elbows up and block her attack, pushing her arms back and away. He kicked her thigh and she stumbled, falling to her knees. The warrior brought his machete back up to the sky, ready to end the fight.

On the ground, Benny attempted at slicing his leg, but he kicked her arm back, then kicked her chest, sending her onto her back. He brought the machete down, the sharp side slicing the through the dirt as Benny backwards summersaulted away, and, seeing him regain control of the blade, continued to back away, heels digging into the earth and elbows accumulating dirt and grass as she crawled. The man swung again and Benny rolled to the side, and half walked-half crawled away. This fucker was fast. She came to a stop at one of the plastic chairs that littered the camp and, looking over her shoulder to see the man ready to strike again, grabbed the leg of the object and rolled it over herself. The warrior's machete cut a large gash into the poor unsuspecting chair and his blade stuck, if only for a few seconds. Benny used this opportunity to push the chair up into the man's body, and as it connected, she rose with it, pushing the now taken aback warrior into the nearest wall. Now, Benny was most likely not strong enough to keep the man there for long, so, without further ado, she pulled the chair away, then slammed it forward, hoping to catch the man's face with the leg. Her first attempt missed, but her second one grazed his cheek and left an uneven scrape across his skin. _This isn't working._

The man, annoyed at the evading woman, gave out a loud cry, grabbed the legs of the chair, and pushed back at Benny. _Well, fuck. How does this not surprise me?_ He continued to push, Benny packpeddling as fast as she could so as not to fall back to the ground under the pressure the man was exerting. Another quick think and she shoved with all her might before letting go, ducking under the chair and the man, the latter startled at the sudden movement and tripping over her back as she curled up on the ground. He fell to his knees, chair flying from his hands, and Benny quickly rose and sent a high powered kick to his chest. Her second kick he caught unfortunately, and held firmly to her ankle as he rose back to his feet, scowling horrendously at the brunette. _Shit, once again, shit._

He pushed her foot away and landed a hard punch to her jaw, stumbling her back a few feet. Benny gripped the handles of her knives, but the idea of a good old fashioned fist fight intrigued her, and she smiled once again, raising her fists and bouncing up and down. She was, to say the least, excited. This man was more challenging than the others, and she liked it. "Whoo, come on dickweed, hit me! Come on-" Maybe she was a little too enthusiastic for his fist collided with her mouth, sending her head to the side. "Ow." She sent a smirk his way, rubbing at the blood that formed from the new cut on her lip. _Just what I needed. "_ Didn't your mama ever tell you you shouldn't hit a lady?" Before the man could respond she sent a fist to his gut, bluffing him into thinking that her other was coming for his face. He countered her next blow with a swift kick of his leg into her side, then a punch to her stomach, then an elbow to her back.

Benny fell to her knees, coughing. _Son of a bitch..._ She rose with great speed and blocked his incoming machete. _Cheater. I thought you wanted a fist fight. Fine then._ Bringing up her knives, Benny whirled around the man and took a good slice at his back, and as he followed her, she shunk a blade into his shoulder, emitting a growling cry from inside the man. He reached around him and grabbed her arm, bringing her forward and aiming for her midsection with his blade. _Well, it was fun while it lasted._ As the man brought her forward, Benny did the first thing that came to mind. She flung her head back and released probably the most painful headbutt she had ever experienced straight into the man's own forehead. He cried out, and she did it again, this time hitting his nose. And as he released her hand she did a third headbutt, hitting his mouth and she was sure one of his teeth had chipped against her skull. As the Rakyat stumbled back, his vision fuzzy and dark, Benny stretched her arms out to her sides, knives pointing outwards, and then, ignoring her excruciating headache, smashed them into either side of his head. The blades broke through the flesh and bone and dug straight into his brain. The last expression on his face: a pained 'oh shit'.

The brunette pulled out the knives in one swift movement, watching the man's body fall, landing in the dirt with a hard thud. The air was silent and filled with the scent of smoke and blood. The gunshots had ceased along with the shinking of knives and battle cries of both pirate and Rakyat. Benny closed her eyes, blood and sweat dripping down the skin of her head, shoulders, and hands and falling form the tips of her knives to make tiny pools in the dirt before being absorbed by the earth. Her heart thumped and thudded and her blood tingled. Goosebumps formed on her arms and she shuddered. _Almost as good as sex._

Upon opening her eyes, Benny was met with many a shocked face by her pirate comrades, at least the few that had come over to investigate the last scene of the woman's fight. Holy shock and awe. The men knew she was lethal with a knife, but they didn't think she'd last long in a real fight. Well, they certainly felt rather idiotic. A breath she hadn't noticed she'd been holding escaped her lips and she smiled at the men. They were covered in blood, a few with cuts and bruises, and one was limping, but other than that, it seemed they had only lost one man tonight. They stared wide eyed at the smiling woman with a Mohawk, stunned, paralyzed. Had she just taken on three different men with only a set of knives and her fists? Why yes, yes she had, and her ego soared over the atmosphere after the men offered her smiles and congratulatory gests. She rose her hands in the air and jumped. "Whooh! Whoo-hoo! Booyah!" And she punched the air with her fists, kicked it, then jumped on it. "God damn that was fucking fun wasn't it?" She asked the men, wide smile exposing blood stained teeth. "When's the next fight, hah? Come on! Whoo! Whoo!" And she jumped on the dead man at her feet, bouncing up and down with maybe a little too much zealous. Another 'whoo!' and she bounced off the man's back, landing maybe not so gracefully on the ground.

As Benny regained composure, she wiped the blood from her mouth and teeth on the back of her arm, smiling still. She caught the compliments the men gave out, such as 'girl's a killer!' 'girl's got balls!' 'Damn, girl, you scary!' 'Vaas really missed out on this one' and a few other comments that sent Benny's ego out of the atmosphere and into the recesses of space. She had won. Fuck yeah, she had won!

Scotty came limping into the fray, one arm hanging over another man's shoulder and the other holding his hand at his injured side. Blood still leaked from the wound and he would indeed need some form of medical attention to it, but aside from that, he looked fit as a fiddle. The blonde offered the girl a welcome smile and Benny beamed, skipping over to the Southern man and smiling gleefully up to him. He let a laugh through his nose, smirking, blue eyes wandering over the woman's bloody face and body before resting them at her jungle eyes. "You're a surprising woman, Benny Hanna," he said, giving a little chuckle at her name.

Well, Benny was speechless and her eyes softened on the blonde man's, and she gave a warm smile. Glancing to the right she noticed his shotgun laying in the brush and she left the man's side, running over to pick it up, then practically skipping back to the Texan. "Here's your shotgun, honey," she said pleasantly, handing it out to him.

Scotty returned the smirk, releasing himself from his comrade's shoulders before taking the gun from Benny's hands. He let it hang casually at his side and he offered the girl a wink. "Thank you, darlin'." He grimaced though when the pain in his wound shook him again.

"Go take care of Scotty," Timmy's voice sounded from the crowd, and he emerged from the gaggle of men, pointing a bloody finger to the man who had helped Scotty to the scene. Said man nodded and continued to assist Scotty back to the shanty they all shared. Timmy looked over the scene before him, Benny's body slick with blood and a dead body laying at her feet...he had only caught glimpses of her taking on other warriors during the fight but he had come to one conclusion. Girl was a badass mofo. He nodded his head in approval, and Benny was over-fucking-joyed! "Good work, girl," he said, crossing his arms. He had removed the arrow completely from his shoulder, but seemed not to notice the wound too much. _Guy's a fucking tank._

As if Benny's smile couldn't get any bigger; it did and she once again jumped up and down happily, whooping to the air and prancing around like a teenage girl who just got a spot on the cheerleading squad.

"Alright!" Timmy boomed, looking towards the rest of the pirates. "Fight's over, time to clean up. Go tend to your wounds. Manny!" he called out to a particular pirate with a ring in his eyebrow. Benny knew him to be Guatemalan. He was short and stocky but could throw one hell of a punch. "I need you to get word to Vaas. We need to get these alarms up and runnin' again." He made a point of excentuating this need by ripping the arrow that had impaled the power box out of said box, the arrow head screeching against the metal as he pulled, and letting it drop to the ground.

As Timmy gave out orders Benny glanced around the camp. Holy dead Rakyat! Twenty bodies. Count them, twenty, lay strewn around the camp, some with gaping shotgun holes in them, some with a multitude of machine gun and pistol caused holes. A few with punture wounds from knives and then the now burnt and crispy body of the man Molotov Man had taken out. The camp looked eerie, and messy, Benny thought, noticing the amount of blood and bodies. She sighed inwardly. The fight was intense and brought out the she-wolf in her, but her mood would be ruined by morning, for she knew that Timmy was going to give her the order to drag the bodies to the beach, and that would take quite a chunk of time out of her day.

Before Timmy could inflic the order, Benny disappeared through the shanty door of their sleeping quarters, casually stepping over the dead body of Hang, the coked up Hmong whose only joys in life were drugs and booze. He never had anything nice to say, to anyone, and Benny was actually grateful the little fucker was dead.

Upon entering the shanty, she quickly eyed the wounded Scotty laying back on his cot, another man stitching up the gash in his side. Scotty offered a welcoming smile and waved his hand at the woman, who returned both gestures. "How you doin, honey," she said, approaching the men and kneeling down so that she was near eye level with the blonde.

"Ain't lookin' good darlin'. The world," he rose his bright eyes up to the ceiling, squinting them. "It's getting cold. So cold...quick, wrap your arms around me!" He grabbed hold of Benny's arm and pulled her down to his chest, an ever present smirk upon his lips. The gesture though only caused the other man's attempts at stitching up the wound near impossible and he grunted for the blonde to stay still.

"Scotty!" Benny shrieked with a laugh that followed, pushing at his shoulders.

"Quick, quick! Ya gotta help me keep warm, you're gonna have to take your shirt off! Hurry!" His fingers found the hem of her shirt and started to pull but Benny wrestled her way out of the man's grasp, his injured state making his grip weak. She stood before him, shaking her head and smiling.

"Oh, Scotty-too-Hottie, when will you ever learn? This girl don't come cheap." And she crossed her arms across her chest and went to lay upon her own cot, sighing in relief as the thought of final relaxation slipped in, and she let her body relax into the cot.

"Remind me to take you out to dinner then," the Texan mused, and allowed the man at his side to continue on with his work.

Benny's body had been tensed for battle and her ego had sky rocketted, but now the high was dropping and she could feel the crash settling into her bones. The headache, bruises, and strains her body had been through in the late night seemed to disapate and she let herself fall into the embrace of sleep.

…...

It had been a dreamless sleep, and restless. Benny's body was aching and begging for a relief from the pain by the time the sun started to rise over the island. She peeked her eyes open to see a bandaged Scotty sleeping still, brows furrowed in his dreams. Benny slightly wondered if he dreamed of Afghanistan, or maybe shooting his own brother in the face, or maybe something completely irrelevant like turtles riding on Pegasus'. She didn't think much on the matter and rose from her cot, running her hands, stained with dried blood, through the locks of her Mohawk, still not used to the feel of barely there hair. She glanced once more at Scotty before rising to her feet and heading out the shanty door.

The air was less humid than the late night of the battle, and the area was devoid of shadows and a small blue air filled the camp as the sun struggled to rise over the neighboring horizon. The men muddled around, looting the dead corpes of the Rakyat before dragging them over to a desgnated pile, no doubt the pile Benny would have to empty and drag to the beach's edge. She groaned at the thought and rubbed her throbbing skull.

Timmy approached her, his shoulder bandaged, and his mood back to its original dour self. Just as she expected, he rose his arm up and pointed to the pile of dead bodies, the corpses quickly paling and starting to aquire a foul odor. She scrunched her nose at the smell and nodded at Timmy's unvoiced order.

Dragging herself to the pile of Rakyat she grabbed at the ankles of one, observing that the natives of the island didn't grow much body hair seeing as their legs and chests were bare. Then again, maybe the Rakyat were a metrosexual bunch and preferred to shave. The thought caused a sigh to slip from Benny's lips. She had been on this island for almost a month and unlike the women in movies and on TV who could live for years on a deserted island without having to worry about the hair ever growing back on their legs, she desperately wanted to get rid of the scratchy hairs growing on her calves. Hey, it was the real world, and in the real world, most American women grow hair on their legs which they are expected to shave daily in order to keep them smooth. Now, Benny wasn't much one to follow along with mainstream ideas, but that was one idea that she practically worshipped. Though she didn't much care for the men on this island, just for her own comfort, she would have gladly liked to shave her legs. She was happy that she at least had tampons.

Benny pulled the body along, away from the camp, and in the quiet the trees, she stood, reminising on the night of battle. The sounds of her knives driving into human flesh thrilled her, a shotgun shot to the head excited her, and a body falling dead at her feet filled her with ecstacy and she silently wished for another fight.

Benny had only stood in the trees for maybe a minute when she heard the sound of rustling behind her. It sounded like half the camp was wandering into the jungle with her and when she turned to investigate, she was shocked.

Pierre the French man had the limp body of a Rakyat slung over his shoulders as he trekked through the brush, and he offered Benny a little smile as he passed her. She rose her eyebrows at him, eyes widening as she saw Luis with another body, then Manny trudging along behind them dragging the hole-ridden body of their enemy. Benny stood, dumbfounded as she watched her fellow pirates drag and carry bodies through the trees, the men either nodding at her or, gasp, giving her a smile. Another tingle started in her chest, but it wasn't the same one she felt when she killed somebody. No, no this one was different. If felt like...like respect! Acceptance! These men, these ruthless, sexist, no good, dirty, rotten, murderous, jesting, unappreciative men...had accepted her! Her! A woman! All the hatred that she aquired for these stupid boys was suddenly shot down. She knew for sure the pervasive comments wouldn't stop, but this time, they would be doing it because they actually liked her. As a person! Oh she was positively giddy.

She counted seven of the pirates from the camp helping, and she was just tickled pink. Timmy was the last to show up by her side, two bodies hanging from each shoulder, the arrow wound seeming not to bother the giant. He looked down at Benny who was still awestruck by the curious nature of these pirates. But it was what Timmy did that set off the squeeling little girl inside of Benny. He met her eyes, and he smiled. A smile that she was far too eager to return. She had done it. Benny was officially one of them. And she couldn't wait to see the look on Vaas' face when he came back and heard about what she had done. The thought left a fuzzy feeling in her belly. 


	7. There Was This Giant Turkey!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beware the Cassowary

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You have been warned.
> 
> Also, look. Scotty :3

**XXX**

Strange Waters

Chapter 7

There Was This Giant Turkey!

XXX

The wind whipped through Benny's hair, her Mohawk flying every which way as she pushed on the throttle of the four wheeler, bringing it to a rather dangerous speed through the foliage of the jungle trails. Perhaps persuading Scotty to jack the camps four wheelers while Timmy was away to the neighboring outpost and while the Texan was still recovering from a stab wound wasn't exactly the best idea, but bad ideas were Benny's forte and she whooped in joy as she drove the vehicle as fast and not as safely as she could, mud and grass flying up from the ground to coat her boots and the calves of her legs. Scotty wasn't far behind.

The Texan was a tad more careful than the woman though, seeing as how he didn't much want to rip the stitches out of his side when rounding a corner or jumping dips, but he did his best to keep up with the daredevil as she swerved the four wheeler, coming close to knocking herself against a tree. "Darlin' your lookin' to get yourself hurt," he hollered to the brunette.

Benny turned her head to give the blonde man a playful smirk. "Don't be such a pussy, Scotty," she said back, slowing the quad down as they rounded a muddy bend, sending the vehicles drifting along the turn. Benny's adrenaline rush soared as she bounced the vehicle off the trunk of a tree, then pushed it forward, increasing her speed once again. The thrill of mud bogging on four wheelers through muddy terrain excited the woman and brought back fond memories of a past life she left far behind; one that included her and her brother racing through the woods and splattering themselves with mud and debris and swerving for squirrels. The Midwestern in her couldn't hold back the whoops of joy as she drove along the trails, pushing the four wheeler to its limits as they came out onto a main dirt road. Nothing but smooth sailing from here.

The woman brought her vehicle to a sudden halt, Scotty nearly side swiping her in the process before he too, applied the brakes, stopping a few feet away from the brunette. Benny smiled, heart pounding and blood pumping; ah the feel of adrenaline. "The hell was that for?" Scotty asked, stroking a hand along his side to be sure the wound hadn't opened. It hadn't, thank God, but if Benny continued to push his limits, the stitches were bound to rip out.

Benny nodded ahead, and Scotty looked. Before them, the main road wound up a steep hill, a left turn here, a right turn there, avoiding the outcroppings of rocks along its assent. The look in Benny's green eyes alerted the Texan of what was to come. "Dude," she said, a big fat stupid grin plastered to her face as she admired the road ahead. "You wanna race down it?" She cut her gaze from the hill over towards Scotty, who stared wide eyed at her, curling his lip and shaking his head.

"You're fuckin' crazy," he started, glancing at the hill again. Fuck hill, that thing was a fucking mountain, and a death trap one at that, especially if Benny wanted to race, not up, but fucking down! The tight turns; if one misjudged them, a sure fall down the wrong side would be an emanate death. A bad turn any other way and you'd smash against the rocks. If anything, the safest thing to hit were the trees spread out along the grass on either side of the road. He shook his head again. "You wanna die?"

Benny laughed and her manner put Scotty off a bit. She was a hardcore killer with a great personality but she was also fucking psychotic! Scotty admitted, although she was a bit on the strange side, she was still a fun gal. She knew how to make not only him, but the other guys laugh, and not only that, she wasn't afraid to get her hands dirty, or bloody. The woman could also hold her beer, which meant she didn't become one of those screeching annoying attention whores most other women he'd seen become. And some men. Benny was also nice to look at. "Ah, chillax, you ain't gonna fuckin' die," she said jokingly, bobbing her head from side to side as she bounced to silent music in her head. She was excited as fuck and Scotty knew, one way or the other, they were going down that hill.

He sighed, and rolled his eyes to the sky, silently praying that this wasn't going to turn out to be a really stupid, and deadly, decision. Blowing out a breath, he sent the woman a defeated smirk and applied pressure to the throttle. "Alright," he said, "but we live through this, you owe me a kiss." He winked and pulled the vehicle forward before Benny could argue the matter, not that he was so sure she would. She didn't hang around and flirt with the other pirates like she did with him, so he was positive he could at least get a kiss out of her, if even a small one.

The two rode up the hill with little difficulty, rounding the corners with ease at the slow pace they used, and once at its peek, Benny silenced the motor of the four wheeler with a twist of the key, and sighed happily. Today was a good day. The sun was high and shining, the humidity was at a low, and there was a nice breeze blowing across the island that Benny enjoyed as much as she possibly could without distractions, like taking four wheelers out for a pleasure cruise...

"Pretty nice view huh?" she heard Scotty mention as he climbed off his own vehicle, waving a hand out to the horizon. Though the road they were on continued far behind them, before them the view of a marvelous archipelago of islands pulled at Benny's fascination. She wandered her eyes over the lush vegetation covering the island, the leafy trees hiding a good portion of her view beneath their canopy, the high mountainous hills, and of course, those crystal clear blue waters of the shorelines. Of course she smiled, anyone without a soul would be stupid not to, after all, it was a tropical paradise. Well, at least it would be if it's beauty wasn't tainted within by the blood and grime of 'big business' concerning the shipment of drugs and people, but Benny wasn't exactly dwelling on that aspect. She was far too busy worrying about herself and what she wanted to think of the welfare of the earth and saving whales and tigers and spending a penny a day on kids in third world countries that probably weren't really sure of what a bunch of rich people with cameras were doing hanging around them. Benny always smiled whenever she thought of that.

"It is," she answered, holding tightly to the handle bars of the vehicle beneath her and leaning back, letting the wind blow through the locks of her Mohawk. Sitting back up, she accepted the cigarette Scotty offered her as he came by her side, flirtatious smirk prominent, as always. He lit them both up and they let themselves relax, Benny on top of the four wheeler, Scotty leaning against it. The day had been pretty fun for the most part, aside from the giant Cassowary that decided to investigate their camp only an hour ago. The animal and Benny did not get along, if Benny blowing a freaking head gasket over the giant fowl looming over her wasn't any sign. The Cassowary returned the scream Benny let loose and, if anything, the fight was amusing. Benny with her trusty bowie knife and the Cassowary with its beak and strong talon-ed feet. It was after Benny sent her knife into the side of the animal that she got the remarkable idea to ditch the bird by taking the four wheelers. Really, Scotty just thought it was her excuse to get out of the camp and have a little fun. He wasn't sure if the animal survived or not.

Pondering the situation, he let his eyes glance over to the brunette woman, her eyes closed as she lent back on the vehicle, hands gripping the rack on the back as she let her mind wander. The Cassowary had left some scratches on the woman's forearms, but nothing too deep or lethal. The woman seemed not to notice the scratches, as she hadn't bothered to dress them and let the blood flow down her arms to dry on her skin. She was a badass, Scotty was sure of that. As if what she had done to Brittany wasn't an obvious sign of that; Scotty had watched with a slight distaste, but also a glimmer of interest. The Southern man wasn't necessarily one for torture, seeing Vaas perform it every time they acquired hostages in their camp proving to be an eyesore, and slightly gut wrenching. But when a woman does it, of her own accord—granted Vaas had ordered her to, but not as a captive to keep herself alive—it just spiked something in the man he couldn't quite grasp a hold of. Attraction yes, but anyone can be attracted to anyone. Perhaps something more along the lines of dangerous. She was dangerous, and Scotty half wondered if that danger followed her into the bedroom. A tough, domineering woman underneath him, or even above him, it tingled his insides and his lusty smile was anything but subtle.

It wasn't like Benny hadn't thought about sleeping with the blonde man herself. He was cute after all, ruggedly handsome just as Vaas and Carlos were, but she had priorities. She couldn't just hop into bed with some guy she'd only known for a month...okay well maybe she could, after all, she'd only known that DJ back in Bangkok one night before luring him back to her hotel room. But, then again, what was his name...Doug...was more of a release. After all, one can only go so long without sex before one starts to get the urge to just grab the nearest person to them and fuck their brains out.

Benny saw it as a difference of opinion really. She didn't see herself as a whore or slut because she had an occasional one night stand. They were pure sexual release sessions and nothing more. And protected. She wasn't about to acquire some random STD because of a bad dick. Unlike some other girls she had met, Benny wasn't fond of the idea of spreading one's legs open every night for a different guy. It just wasn't appealing for her. If she needed the relief over a period of time—and if she had the time—she would find herself a boyfriend to satisfy herself with until she was ready to move on, then, so as not to be the dick in the breakup herself, she would give the men a reason to leave her legitimately.

When it comes to one night stands, Scotty fit the bill perfectly. Tall, handsome, rugged, flirtatious, friendly, humorous, competitive...the list goes on but if Benny were to take any man in the camp aside for a quick play it would definitely be Scotty. And she didn't doubt that he felt the same way.

Dragging on her cigarette, Benny pulled both her legs over the side of the vehicle so as to seat herself on the rack, rather close to Scotty. The Texan noticed, smirked, and kept his gaze on the horizon before them as he slipped the thumb of his free hand into his belt loop, lazily dragging on his own cigarette.

"Alright," Benny said, shoulder rubbing against Scotty's own as she scooted closer to him. _Might as well be a little touchy feely. He does have nice arms after all._

_You're such a freak._

_Oh shut up, its just all that manly testosterone pulling me in._

_Horn dog._

_Damn right._

"So, here's the deal. We race down the hill okay, till we get back to the trail we came from," she said, gesturing a hand down the death trap of a hill. "If I win," she paused to take another drag and smiled pleasantly to Scotty, blowing out a puff of smoke, "I get your razor."

Scotty frowned and quirked an eyebrow, glancing over to the woman. "My razor?" he asked, puzzled. "What the fuck do you need my razor for?"

Benny scoffed, dragged from her cigarette, and rolled her eyes. "Duh, it's a Gillette Fusion. Better than girl razors."

"Yeah, but why do you want it?"

"Well, Scotty, in case you haven't noticed, I've actually been wearing t-shirts and _actual_ pants the past couple weeks." She waved her hands over herself, pointing to the Batman t-shirt and cargos—complimentary once again for the work uniform—which she had not cut the legs off of...yet. "Okay, unlike the women you see in the movies and shit, I actually grow body hair, and, well, heh I would really like to, ya know, be a woman about it and get rid of it." She winked an eye at the Southern man who chuckled at her answer, dragging once again from the cigarette and inhaling slowly.

"Huh, that all?" he asked, smirking once again, accent extenuating all of his a's and l's. "No other favors? Just my, fuck, my razor?" Her demand seemed almost ridiculous, but he was no idiot, women did indeed shave their legs. "Alright, but if you don't mind me askin', who the fucks gonna be feeling your legs anyway?" Honestly, who the fuck was she expecting to feel her legs.

Benny pushed him, shoulder to shoulder, before answering. "Well, _I'll_ be able to feel them, bitch," she said with a roll of her eyes and a flick of the cigarette. "And I don't like my legs feeling all... _manly,"_ she said with a grimace and took another drag.

Scotty scoffed, offered her another one of his famous flirtatious smirks, and said, "Alright, you got it. And what if I win? Huh? What do I get?" He leaned in close, forehead almost coming into contact with her as his lips brushed over her ear. Oh, he was a charmer. _Careful boy, you might lose something near and dear to you...unless you keep talking like that, because honestly, my hormones are driving me fucking crazy right now._

_Oh just sleep with him._

_Please, even if I wanted to, where the fuck would we do it? Camp's always full._

_How bout out here?_

Benny swung her legs and smiled at the man, turning to face him. Blue eyes struck green and his proximity didn't fully register to Benny until she could actually feel the exhales of breath coming from his lips as he quietly laughed, leaning his shoulder further against hers. Well, this was...interesting. Of course it had been obvious since day one that Scotty—along with all the other men—was wishing to get into her pants, but Benny, being a woman with priorities, always denied the man. After all, he was just a man, and she hadn't the slightest idea of where his dick had been.

_That's what condoms are for, dude._

_Yeah, but you can still get herpes with condoms._

_Allegedly._

Benny smirked and licked her lips before biting her bottom one. Raising her chin to the man, she lent in, another centimeter and their lips would no doubt be touching. "You get to keep your dick," she whispered, more seductively than intended but she made a quick recovery by pulling away from the man and laughing.

Scotty shook his head and looked to the sky. "Come on now, darlin'," he said, bringing his eyes back to meet the chuckling woman. "You gotta give me somethin' better than that."

Benny sighed, took another drag and blew it out with a giggle. "Alright, alright," she said, laying her elbows on her knees. "What do you want? And," she brought a finger up to the Texan, "don't ask for anything involving coitus, intercourse, sex, or fucking," she said, naming off each word on her fingers.

"Ah, darlin' your breakin' my heart," the blonde said with a false frown and a hand over his chest. _Very well muscled chest._

_Hop on that Benny! Come on! It's right there and there's no one around._

_Sorry dude. Priorities._

Benny smiled and sat up straight on the four wheeler. "I'm serious, dude. Pick something else."

"Alright," said Scotty, looking over Benny's body while her gaze fell to the scenery before them once again, waiting for his reply. Scotty was disappointed she was avoiding him these few weeks. It's not that he wanted to fuck her because she was the only woman he'd been in contact with for well over two months—living in the boonies of the islands didn't offer much sexual satisfaction as other parts did—okay, that was one reason. But the other reason was because, he was honestly attracted to her. Not that he often sought out killer women with Mohawks, but it's not like the Mohawk was all that bad on her. Actually, him and the other guys honestly agreed she looked good, with or without it. The woman hadn't tied it back today and it sailed recklessly down the left side of her head. She had to train it completely to one side, figuring it looked better than having it hang from both. Still though, Scotty thought she was beautiful. Long legs with a powerful kick, a thick waist—no she wasn't at all fat, she was just built and no doubt took good care of her body, as if the muscles in her arms were any indication. Women aren't just born like that. This woman had to have worked out daily to acquire muscles of this stature. She could probably no doubt arm wrestle him to the ground. Well, maybe if he let her use two hands. He was tempted to challenge her to a round when they got back.

Scotty also noticed that she hadn't been lacking in the chest department. He wasn't good with judging boob size; he guessed between early C's and late B's...but he could be wrong. That was one reason he never bought his wife lingerie, at least not unless she was with him. "I said nothing pertaining to sex," he heard Benny's voice say playfully, followed by a giggle. "Honey, my eyes are up here," and she pointed to said eyes, still smiling though at the blonde man.

There was a slew of sexual innuendos that Scotty could have retorted with, literally a slew, but he bit his tongue, flicked his cigarette to the ground, and smiled his dazzling smile to the brunette beside him. "A kiss," he said, raising his eyebrows and smirking.

Benny raised on of her own brows. "A kiss?"

"Nah, nah, not a full out make out session or any of that, now. No, just uh, just a normal kiss on the lips, that's all," he explained. "Ten seconds," he added before Benny could answer. And the woman rolled her eyes in response.

"Okay," she said, scooting back on the rack before straddling the quad once again, taking one last, long drag of her cigarette before flicking the butt away. "One ten second kiss. That's it," and with a smirk, she turned the key and pushed the starter and didn't wait for Scotty to follow suit as she left him in a cloud of dust.

"Ah fuck!" The Southern yelled to the woman as he jumped aboard his own vehicle, turning the key and cursing the starter. "Come on, darlin' you know my starter's a piece of shit!" The woman laughed as she sped forward down the hill, rounding the first turn with ease, and then quickly speeding up. Scotty's cries of unfairness drowned out behind her as the sounds of the engine filled her ears and she felt her heart pounding against her chest again, and she didn't even have to try a smile as it spread across her lips, laughs escaping her throat and another string of 'whoo's'. The second turn was steeper and tighter than the last, but Benny never slowed and sped around it, almost knocking the four wheeler on its side in the process, which would crash her body into the rocks. Leaning her body the opposite way she avoided the collision of four wheeler to ground and body to stone and continued onward, adrenaline rushing through her veins like a fucking drug.

Scotty cursed under his breath as he chased after the flamboyant woman, hoping to God he didn't die in the process. He rounded both turns slower than Benny had, but quickly picked up speed after the second. The third and final turn was coming up, and it was tight. If Benny didn't watch herself, she'd fly clear off the hill and down the steep ledge, meeting a surely demise at the bottom. He watched the brunette ahead of him pick up more speed. She was fucking crazy! If she went any faster she'd soon see what it would feel like to fly...and then crash and burn of course.

"Benny! Slow the fuck down, that corner's too tight!" He wasn't sure if his warning would reach the woman's ears, but if it did, he prayed she'd listen.

Benny did indeed hear the Texan call out in caution. _Aw, how cute, he's worried about me. Maybe I should slow down and give him that kiss. Ah fuck it._ Benny did indeed slow, but not so that Scotty could win and claim his prize. The corner took timing and precision and if Benny fucked it up, it'd be the death of her. _Not that I'm a total YOLO believer, but fuck if this isn't living on the edge!_ "Whoo!" And she took the turn. The handle bars started to jostle and the vehicle started to rise. Fuck. It skidded around, drifting through the dirt and Benny could see the edge coming closer and closer. Mustering up as much strength as she could she lent against the vehicle, doing her best to keep it grounded. There was a split second where the wheels on one side rose up off the ground. Thank God only for a second. But the four wheeler still skidded and drifted along. No guard rail meant up shit creek without a paddle and Benny applied the brakes, a bit delayed, but she still did. Ah shit, that's right, Scotty's starter was a piece and so were her hand brakes. Well, at least she had a foot break, but even that was going now as she pushed with all her might.

Well...that was a rush. Benny breathed a sigh, looking back at that horrendous corner that she had totally just dominated the shit out of and whooping and hollering once again, alerting Scotty of her victory. Scotty had just pulled into view around the corner, taking his jolly ol' time stab wounds and a need to live considered. He shook his head at her, blonde locks flying behind him as he pushed further on the throttle. "Haha! Take that Scotty! Take the fuck out of that!" She continued to laugh as she turned her head back to keep her eyes on the road.

Now, there is a very good reason that people tell you to keep your eyes on the road. Most of the time it's to stay straight, avoid pedestrians or other vehicles, or to be wary of other obstacles like road blocks and whatever else have you. Well, nothing in Driver's Ed taught her to look out for giant turkeys. Small turkeys, yeah, but not giant murderous yellow necked turkeys with an agenda to maim you!

"Dicks!" Benny stomped on the pedal break, the inner animal lover in her forcing her to turn the vehicle before she could slam into the giant bird. Of course the animal lover came before the grudge holder, so, the second she swerved, she cursed herself. That was the same fucking bird from camp! God motherfucking dammit!

Turning too quickly with most vehicles can pretty much promise a tilt and fall to the side maneuver. And as Benny flew sideways, her vehicle came in contact with the bird and she, and bird, both flew off the road, rolling down a small incline and into a pile of shrubbery. The four wheeler had luckily come to a halt at the edge of the road, and, if it had feelings, would most likely be grateful for not meeting the same fate as the two living organisms rolling down the hill had.

"Fuck, Benny!" Scotty halted the four wheeler next to the downed one, murmuring that Timmy was not going to be happy if the quad was broken in any way. "Darlin' you okay down there?" he shouted down to the shrubbery, waiting patiently for some movement or sound to come from the woman.

Muffling speeches sounded from the bushes as they rustled.

"What? Darlin'?"

A dried-blood covered arm appeared out of the bushes, a thumbs up on its hand. Scotty breathed a sigh of relief as the rest of Benny's body followed after.

The woman, though now covered in another mess of scratches and bruises, seemed unscathed aside from all that and pulled some of the jungle foliage out of her hair. "Get on up here, girl, we gotta get back before Timmy finds out we ditched." Benny nodded silently, holding her throbbing head as she made the trek back up to the road, having to use both feet and hands to ascend. Scotty held a hand out for the woman who took it gratefully and helped pull her back up to the road, chuckling at the moment.

"Dude, this giant fucking turkey just appeared out of fucking nowhere," the woman mumbled, rubbing at her sore head once again before grabbing the handlebars of the four wheeler, hoisting it back onto all four wheels.

"Haha, oh really?" Scotty said, mounting back onto his own vehicle.

"Yeah, I swear to God it's the same one from the camp." Her eyes widened at the Southern man, a tingle of fear, yes fear, in her stomach. "I think it's out for revenge for me stabbing him," she said in a hushed tone and quickly went to the side of the road to see if the giant bird was anywhere down in the bushes. It all looked clear and she bit her lip, turning back to Scotty. "You know what, I think it's working for the Rakyat."

" _You_ know what? I think you mighta hit your head a little harder than you think," Scotty said with a chuckle, holding his hand to Benny's forehead. She pushed him away with a wince. She'd hit her head hard, but she knew not that fucking hard. She knew a giant turkey out for blood when she saw one.

A cry...no wait...a screech? A cluckishy sounding screech? Both Benny and Scotty turned their heads, staring wide eyed at the mangled looking yellow necked Cassowary standing in the road, feathers ruffled and it bobbed its head, screeching again at the two humans.

"Fuck man I told you!" Benny quickly mounted the four wheeler as the bird charged, wings out and talons ready to strike. "Fuck!" She pushed on the throttle, as did Scotty to his own, and they raced away from the attacking, very pissed off, bird. They could have pulled a gun on the thing...but when one's life is threatened by something as ridiculous as a giant turkey, one tends to overlook things.

"So I won right?" Scotty called out to Benny, smirking as they raced back onto the jungle trails and back towards camp.

"What? I can't hear you...I said we had to race back to camp! Sorry honey."

Scotty rolled his eyes. He'd have to work hard and possibly rip some stitches if he wanted to win that kiss.

…...

Benny and Scotty weren't far from camp as they exited the jungle, mud and grass and other nature-y things coating their boots and pants. "Come on, darlin', you said to the trail. I won, now come on."

"Nope, I said the first one back to camp," Benny said proudly, smirking at the man's persistence. They drove the vehicles slowly towards the outpost, and hoped they'd still make it back before Timmy.

Uh oh. Was that the jeep? The camp's jeep? The jeep Timmy used to get to the neighboring camp. Ah fuck shit it was. "Dicks," Benny muttered, slowing the four wheeler to a complete stop, Scotty following. "Timmy's back." She grumbled and groaned and hung her head, then glared ahead and whirred her lips.

"Yeah..." Scotty said, narrowing his eyes at the direction of the camp. "No doubt he'll be grindin' our asses the second we get there."

"Alright, so here's the plan. We turn the quads off and push 'em in through the back, then we just tell him about the turkey and—hey!" All Benny heard was the blast of Scotty's engine followed quickly by the Texan's laughter. That dick! He was willing to just barge into the camp where Timmy was no doubt waiting to blow their brains out just so he could fucking gain a fucking ten second kiss! That mofo-ing no good, dirty, rotten, dickweed. Benny huffed and glared as she raced after him. This wasn't good.

Scotty was the one to whoop and holler as he entered the camp, rousing his fellow pirates from their duties. "God damn! Whoo, looks like you owe me a kiss there darlin'," the blonde said proudly as he turned to the woman pulling up next to him. She rolled her eyes and grumbled some more, tightening her grip on the handlebars. That dick. Once again, that dick.

"I didn't say when," Benny said, eyebrow raised at the Texan who look down right heartbroken at that comment.

"Come on now, I won the race. Both of 'em. Fair and square."

"Oh please, Scotty, you totally cheated."

"I cheated? Who the hell had the head start on top the hill."

"Not my fault that you're starter's fucked up."

Scotty narrowed his eyes at the woman who casually crossed her arms and pursed her lips, staring right back at him. This would mark the first time since he had known this woman, that he had actually grown annoyed by her. "Come on, darlin'. I know you ain't no tease."

"Hey," Benny said with a friendly smile. "I never said I _wouldn't_ kiss you. I just didn't say when I would."

Scotty crossed his own arms and cocked his head. "No better time like the present."

Benny shook her head, smiled again, and eyed the Texan, who couldn't keep a frown for long, for his smirk was back in place...at least for a second. Blue eyes cast to the side and he winced. Uh oh. Benny also winced, at every step she heard the camp's giant make as he made his way up behind her and once she was sure he had stopped for good and wasn't planning on stomping on her, she turned her head. Smack into his chest...er...sternum. He was very tall. Pulling her face off of the massive man, Benny managed a weak smile, chuckling nervously up at Timmy as he stood before her, foreboding and threatening. _I am so freakin' dead._

 _"_ Okay, Timmy, I know what you're thinking," Benny said, weak smile and holding her hands up. "But there is a totally legit reason why we jacked the quads okay? Okay," Benny bit her lip, rolling over possible excuses she could use in this situation. None worked, so she winged it. Maybe not the most logical decision, but neither was taking the four wheelers. "So there was this giant turkey! Huge motherfucker, like...bwoosh," she raised her arms before her to accentuate the bird's size...maybe a little too much. "Like huge freakin' turkey-"

"Cassowary," Scotty whispered behind her, fingers laying at his lips as he kept his eyes away from Timmy, figuring eye contact with the giant would strike him dead.

"Okay, Cassywawa-"

"Cassowary," Scotty said again behind her.

Benny turned to shush him, narrowing her eyes and murmuring. "Whatevs," she said, then turned back to Timmy. "So, this big ass bird just charges into camp." Actually it walked in curiously. "And just starts tearing up the place." Actually, it picked at the chicken feed then knocked over a bottle of water. "Then it goes on a rampage and starts attacking everyone!" Actually, Benny screamed at the animal out of surprise—she had never seen a Cassowary before and was therefore, unsure of how to take a giant bird walking around the camp—and said animal reacted out of defense. It attacks her. "And I'm just blasting it with bullets, but the damn thing won't freakin' die!" Actually, as the Cassowary kicked at her, Benny had managed to stab a knife through its left wing. "So me and Scotty grab the quads okay and chase after it." Actually, the bird chased Benny until she decided a four wheeler was a good means of escape. She then rammed it into the bird and encouraged Scotty to join her in a joy ride after realizing how much she had missed four wheeling. "We chase it through the jungle okay, then, we figure, huh, it musta learned it's lesson, and we come along a road okay, and...I don't know how this thing freakin' did it but it must have some kind of teleportation device or fuck, a portal through hell, cuz it's right on top of us again! So I run it over!" Well, this was partially true. "And it still won't die so we fucking booked it! Swear to God man, that thing is a freakin' zombie!"

Her story seemed not to convince Timmy, nor did it entertain him in any way for his fists were clenching and his muscles flexed in agitation. Benny gulped. "I think it might be working for the Rakyat, cuz, seriuosly, fucker was out for blood."

And it came. Timmy's rising voice, booming so loud it could move mountains sent both Benny and Scotty cowering back. As Timmy ranted about the use of the four wheelers, Scotty felt a familiar sensation running down his side and rubbed his hand along his shirt before looking down. Fuck, just great. The wound had opened and the blood leaked through his wife beater to the waist of his pants. Timmy's gaze went from Benny to Scotty and he went off on another rant about Benny endangering Scotty's life and that Scotty was one of the best guns they had and, well, eventually, Benny started to zone out. Growing up with people constantly yelling at you, you tend to develop the acute ability to just drown it all out, nod your head, and say 'okay' occasionally. Especially if it was a ranting session such as Timmy's.

Benny's eyes wandered away from Timmy of their own accord, and her ears perked at the sound of a truck engine pulling into the camp. Her heart jumped in her throat as she looked behind the raging man in front of her—she had to lean slightly to the left due to the man's mass—and she felt that fuzzy feeling in her belly again. There was that man that plagued her thoughts for the past three weeks, jumping gracefully from the truck, dog and Filipino comrad in tow.

_Aw, he didn't bring Carlos._

_Forget Carlos, you were just wanting to jump on Scotty._

_Yeah but now Vaas is here and, be still my beating heart but if he isn't a looker._

_Priorities woman!_

_Right._

It was when Timmy's large hand gripped her arm in a painful vice did she bring her attention back to the fuming giant. "What did I just say girl!" he bellowed.

"Something about a turkey...hey look Vaas is here," she said, smiling nervously and pointing behind the man with her free hand. Timmy turned his head, loosening his grip on the woman to observe that his boss, had indeed, showed up. And right on time too. He wasn't sure how long they could hold out if another swarm of Rakyat decided to attack. Benny pulled herself from his grasp and rushed behind Scotty, using the injured man as a human shield. Timmy groaned a sigh, rubbed his eyes. Getting too old for this, he thought, and he made his way over to the pirate lord.

"So about that kiss..." Scotty reminded Benny and turned to eye the woman with a certain lust.

"Sorry I can't hear you, I'm inside," Benny announced, though she was obviously not inside, though she did make her way to their shanty. Scotty made to follow her but Luis' hand on his shoulder stopped him. He sighed as the young Mexican man pointed to his wound and spoke to him in Spanish. Not that Luis didn't understand English, but he preferred his native tongue when talking to his co-workers. Many of the men had come to get the gist of what he was saying and therefore didn't argue his choice of speech.

Scotty sighed again and allowed the younger man to lead him away from his possible sexual release. She was alone inside that shanty! A bolt of the door and they could finally have some fun. But no, his stitches had to rip and then Vaas had to show up. No doubt that woman would be fawning over him, what with the sketches of their leader in her notebook. Yes, she had drawn another one.

"Timmy!" came Vaas' eager voice as he greeted the larger man with a punch to the arm. "Miss me _hermano?"_ The larger man failed to share Vaas' enthusiasm as he greeted the pirate lord with a simple 'hmph'. Mango came around to Vaas, tool kit in hand, awaiting the man's order. "Mango get to work on the alarms."

Mango shook his head. "Vaas, the damn thing was hit with an arrow! How the hell am I supposed to fix that?"

"Come on now, Mango. You're our little fucking MacGyver," Vaas said as he ruffled the boy's hair, said boy pulling away from the growing annoyance of a man. "Here, take whatever I got in my pockets..." Vaas reached into his pants pocket, shuffling around and smiling at the younger pirate as he pulled out a fist full of whatevers and placed them in Mango's hand. "And go do your thing."

Vaas turned back to Timmy and the young Filipino looked at the items Vaas had placed in his hands. A dollar worth of change, random bullets, and a rubberband...he sighed, shook his head, and just went about the attempt of repairing the alarm system. How Vaas expected him to incorporate coins, bullets, and rubberbands and some pocket lint into repairs he hadn't the slightest idea. Maybe MacGyver could...

"So," Vaas said happily as he clapped his hands together. "How'd it go with the girl? She got any limbs left?" Vaas glanced around the camp, on the look out of course for the woman he had left here. He was certain that if he did see her, she'd be nothing but a 'mess of pussy and tits' as he had claimed it weeks before.

Timmy turned to look back towards the camp area, eyes scanning around for the pirate woman. Where had she gone? "Well she _was_ here," he said with a furrow of his brow. "Her and Scotty just got back...those two kids decided to take a little joy ride on the quads. I was just in the middle of chewin' em both out-"

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait," Vaas interjected, a more serious tone this time. "She's alive?"

"Oh she's well and alive," the larger man explained, a glint of humor in his usually stoic eyes. "Actually did a good job defending herself too against those warriors." Vaas' eyes widened as he stared up at the giant of a man. Had he just said she was in the fight with those fuckers? And that she did a good job of defending herself? Well...what the fucking hell?

"Hold on," Vaas started, rubbing a hand along the shaven side of his head. "She actually, like...wow," he chuckled, "Fuck I thought for sure she'd be dead...or at least, ya know, tied to a bed or something..."

"Well it isn't like some of the guys haven't tried," Timmy said, crossing his arms. "Heh, punched Lee's face in with those brass knuckles of her's. Poor soul choked on his own blood." He shook his head at this, as if actually offering sympathy for the man who had attempted at raping the woman.

"Wow," Vaas repeated, a smile in place as he put his hands to his waist and looked down to the dirt, envisioning the woman he had captured punching Lee's face in to the point of death. Girl had fucking moxie, and this intrigued him. "So where is she now?" He brought his eyes back up to the other man.

The man shrugged and looked back around the camp again. "Don't know." He looked back to his leader. "She's around here somewhere. Prolly dickin' around with Scotty. Those two have been inseparable lately."

"Lucky bastard," Vaas muttered under his breath. "Well, what say we go find her then, hah?" His smile returned and he once again clapped his hands and rubbed them together. "But first...I got a present for you, my friend _."_ Timmy furrowed his brow once again, wondering that this was either a good, or very bad thing. The pirate lord jumped up into the back of the truck and motioned for Timmy to come over. Vinnie the dog sat near the truck's bed, whining up at his master and licking his chops. Only the face a dog begging for food would make. " _Mi amigos!"_ he called out to the wandering group of pirates. They all stopped in their tracks at the sound of their leader and deduced that he wasn't in a killing mood, and the men relaxed. "Dinner!" Vaas pulled up over the bed of a truck a set of hooves followed by a pair of hind legs, and, swinging the dead animal over the side of the truck for Timmy to catch, revealed the rest of the wild boar he had shot and killed for his men's sustenance. The pirates raised their hands and whooped for the offering. It had been a while since they had had a good portion of meat in their diets and, after the goat was used up, they were craving a hefty amount of protein. "Hehe, Timmy go string it up, I'll do the honors of cooking," he said, laying his hands proudly over his chest and smirking.

Vaas hopped down from the truck as Timmy carried the animal away, a hungry Vinnie following behind. He scanned the area again as he placed his hand on the holster of his gun. A habit really. Walking along through the camp he gazed over the shanties and crates and slight foliage sprouting up around the area, searching curiously for that dangerous woman who never failed yet in amazing him. His search only came up with the several men meandering around the outpost, doing this and doing that...where was that woman?

"Scotty-too-Hottie," he said amusingly as he clapped the Texan on the shoulder. Scotty had taken a seat in one of the plastic chairs around the fire pit. Granted the fire was out, but, no better time to relax and have a beer than the present, right? "Heard you got shivved."

Scotty glanced at the darker man beside him and sighed. "Yup. Woulda been worse if that little warrior princess hadn't come along and blown his brains out," he said with a chuckle and lent back in his seat.

"Really now?" Vaas said, as if his interest in the woman wasn't growing big enough, here he found out she was also a savior. Scotty nodded and took a drink of the beer in his hands. If he missed anything from off this island, it was American brewed beer. This shit sucked. "So where is that little 'warrior princess' of yours?"

Scotty shrugged. "Fuck if I know. She just ran off."

"Huh..." Just as Vaas was about to leave the Texan's side, something completely unpredictable and unexpected, and certainly unorthodox, happened. One minute he's just minding his own business, talking to his pirates and what nots, and the next he's on the ground, the image of a brunette, Mohawk'd, tattooed woman above him.

Now, this did not just happen at random. Well, maybe it did. Benny had emerged from the shanty with her first instinct to find the ever intriguing pirate lord that plagued her thoughts and memories and dreams. She found him standing casually near Scotty, no doubt asking about her. After all, she was a woman who had survived three weeks in a pirate camp riddled with men. Her first thought at seeing Vaas near Scotty was 'decisions, decisions', her second thought being 'hey, wouldn't it be completely hilarious if I just tackled Vaas to the ground?' and her third thought being 'I'm gonna fucking do it'. There was no rhyme or reason. There was no logic, no thinking, no nothing. Benny had a habit of acting on a whim, after all that's what got her on this island in the first place. And she acted, sprinting as fast as she could, and of course as quietly. If he heard her, she doubted he wouldn't do anything to evade her.

The tackle was successful, and had actually sent them both flying back a foot and landed them both rather hard on the ground. As Benny rose her head to look down at the man, big stupid grin on her face, she was met with a muddle of all kinds of emotions, most all complete fucking shock. Had she just tackled him? Him! To the ground! Well...a situation he had never prepared himself for. Does he attack? Or does he laugh it off? Or does he call on his dog to attack the woman? He glanced to the side where he could see the pitbull sitting at Timmy's feet, panting and whining to be fed some suculent pork. After his dog had failed to attack her the first time, Vaas groaned at the embarrassment that would follow him should he attempt to sic his dog on her a second time.

Glaring back up to the giggling woman, whose hands were splayed across his chest—this he didn't seem to mind so much—he caught the presence of laughter. Low chortling and he peeked his eyes to the Southern man holding his sides and doubled over in his chair, being unable to sustain the amounts of laughter that came from his body. He shook and he laughed, wheezed and then laughed again, the wound in his side pushing him to stop, but the humor pushing him more to continue. "Haha! Oh that ain't the first time she's done that. I remember she did that to me, fuck a week ago. She's a strong one, ain't she?" The blonde man continued to giggle and chuckle and Vaas looked back to the woman on top of him. Well, this was familiar; the situation was missing a knife though.

" _Hola_ , Vaasy-poo, I missed you," she said between giggles as she brought her head to lay on her hands at his chest, eyes skimming over his facial expressions. It tickled her insides.

Vaas narrowed his eyes. "Vaasy-poo? Pff, what the fuck?" Finally he came to his senses and pushed the woman off of him, still debating on whether or not he should shoot her. The reality of a woman pirate gracing his presence keeping him from doing anything irrational...so far.

The woman's responses to his return to the camp were far from what he had expected should she still be here. Anger would probably be the most expected. Subtle resentment following after. Even a grudge he thought would be appropriate for any normal person to show after what he had done. Certainly no person in their right mind would see him, tackle him, then call him a pet name and say they missed him. No person in their right mind...

"Hehe, totally got you, _mi amor,"_ Benny said with a smile as she rose to her feet. Benny came up with _mi amor_ simply from digging around her ass. Honestly, it was the only thing she could come up with, and if Vaas took it to heart, well then, he'd be horribly heartbroken, for Benny saw him in no way as her _amor._

" _Mi amor?_ " The man laughed, eying the woman curiously. "Well that's a new one. Just a few weeks ago I was...what did you call me? Dickweed. All of a sudden I'm your lover now am I?" He smirked at the woman, who only bit her lip and shook her head.

"Oh don't be so sure of yourself," she said, stepping dangerously closer to her leader. If he decided to strangle her, well...ah memories. "I couldn't think of jackshit to call you so..." she poked him in the chest and she could see that carnal look in his eyes. _Hey, Benny, I had this great idea. Why don't you tease the fuck out of a pirate leader, deny him, then get your ass raped._

_You can't rape the willing, Subconscious._

"Anything wrong with my name?" he asked, watching her finger pull away.

"Hmm, no. I guess not. _Vaas_ ," she said it slowly, accentuating each letter on her lips, mulling over the word. " _Vaas_ ," she repeated in the same inquisitive tone. She looked up to him and quirked an eyebrow. "Is that short for something? Like Vaseline or something?"

It was Vaas' turn to laugh. Well, never in his life had someone come up with that before. "Fuck no, fuck no," he exclaimed, holding a hand to his lips. "Fuckin Vaseline...do I look like lubrication to you."

"No but seriously," she said, ceasing her laughter, "is Vaas really short for something?"

Vaas chuckled again before laying his hands to his sides. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

"Ah come on, now, Vaas, humor the lady," Scotty said, taking another drink of his beer and pulling out his cigarettes. He handed one out to Benny as usual and lit them up, as usual. Vaas glanced from one person to the other before letting his gaze rest on the smoking woman. Funny, he never really imagined an interesting woman smoke a cigarette...well, he guessed that just added to the interest. Kudos to her. Vaas scoffed at the woman and shook his head, an ever present mischievous glint in his eyes that Benny was far to eager to bring out. Of course, she wasn't about to let him know that.

"Wish I could, _hermano,"_ addressing the other man, but keeping his gaze on the woman who decided to blow a puff of smoke in his direction. "Sadly though, I promised to grill up a boar. Can't have my men," he eyed Benny, "or my women, going hungry now can I?" His smirk excited Benny but she kept her cool, though looked a little bewildered when the pirate lord took the cigarette from between her lips and placed it in his own, inhaling and blowing the smoke out. "I got a present for ya, _chica_."

Benny rose her brows. A present! Oh happy day! Another intake of the nicotine and Vaas pointed to the truck. "In the dash," he said. "Think you'll like it." With that, he waved the two off and sauntered over to where Timmy had hung the boar up and had pulled a basin underneath it. Ruffling his dog's ears, he pulled a knife from his belt and set to work, cigarette dangling from his lips as he stuck the blade into the carcass.

Well, at the sound of a present in the truck, Benny wasted no time in investigating. Leaving Scotty to his beer and chair, she raced to the rusted vehicle and jumped through the door, ever eager to find whatever present it was that Vaas had for her. Really she should have been thinking about what it could be. For all she knew it could have been a bomb or a dead body or some other form of nasty unwanted stuffs.

 _Well, one can certainly tell a man drives this truck._ The floor of the truck was littered with beer bottles and empty cigarette packs, along with other garbage like papers and the like. But she wasn't really worried about what was on the floor. Pulling on the latch of the glove compartment she was met with the most beautiful sight. Surrounded by random papers and drugs, oh and a pipe which she swiped without even thinking about the consequences, was her camera! Oh happy day!

Her smile was huge and she pulled the camera from the dash, quickly flipping it open as she sat down on the seat. Well, the man had left it at a quarter of batter power, but who the fuck cared! She had her baby back!

Before she exited the vehicle she glanced around its interior. Blah basically. Regular old school roofless truck, completely out of date, save for the CD player installed in the dash. Rather crappily at that. The area was much too large and the player there for had to be held in with a surrounding of cardboard. Ghetto but it worked. Curiosity struck and, noticing the keys still in the ignition, she flipped them to idle and pressed eject on the CD player. _Wonder what kind of music this guy's into..._ well the man's handwriting left much to be desired...but she shrugged, commenting to herself that it was better than her own, which meant if this chicken scratch was readable, then her's was completely incomprehensible. _No wonder my superior officers never wanted me to take a desk job_ she mused to herself and tried to decipher the scrawled letters on the top of the CD. It either said Skrillex or Shakira...well he was Hispanic after all...

Benny, curiosity satiated, placed the CD back and turned the truck off before the music could sound and she let her eyes wander around again. Hm...what was that cord for? Following it down as it had been plugged into the player, her eyes lit up again and she squealed. "Vaasy-poo!" she called from the truck, averting her eyes to search for the pirate lord, who probably didn't take too kindly to the pet name.

"Call me that again and I'll slit your fucking throat open!" came the not too friendly response. She caught him over by the strung up boar, cutting into its insides with his knife, every once in a while removing the cigarette from his lips to ash it out on the ground.

"Can I drive the truck in?"

"Why the fuck would I let you do that?" he called back, removing the cigarette and sending a gaze her way.

"So we can listen to music, dude. We don't have a radio here."

"And I only have one CD," he said, cutting down the boar's midsection after depositing the cigarette back to his lips. "We gonna listen to the same thing over and over again?"

"No, dude, I got like 500 songs on my iPhone."

"And how does that apply to driving the truck in?"

"Well, you got a connector," Benny said, holding the cord up so that the man could see it. "It'll plug into my phone. Then we can listen to the music from the truck."

Vaas pondered the woman's request. She had obviously proved her worth and had become a respected member of the band of pirates, at least in this camp, but he wasn't so sure how he felt about some American _puta_ driving his truck. "Can you drive a stick?" he asked, pulling out organs from the dead animal before him.

"Really now?" Benny asked, almost incredulously. "Dick, I am a woman from the Midwest, of course I can drive a stick." Really, the nerve of some men.

Vaas ceased his dissection of the animal and flicked his spent cigarette to the ground, spitting after it. He turned to look at the woman sitting in the truck, smile ever present. She must be having a good fucking day, he thought. Shrugging, he waved an okay, then went back to work on the dead boar.

Benny smirked and scooted over to the driver's seat and started up the vehicle. The engine sounded like it had something loose rattling around inside. Not seeming to care, Benny held down the clutch, put it in first, and pulled ahead. Applying the break she then proceeded to reverse the vehicle. Clutch, shift, gas.

She didn't think it was impressive being able to drive a manual, but the men seemed to think so, at least for a woman, and Vaas applauded her. "Well done," he said, clapping his hands and smirking. Benny rolled her eyes as she jumped from the truck, nearly tripping over the door as she did so. Yeah, sometimes she wasn't very graceful. Before heading out to search for her phone she skipped, yes that's right, skipped up to Vaas, turning her camera on to record, not even caring in the slightest if she was recording over any previous videos. All the ones on the camera she had already uploaded to the internet.

Perhaps Vaas should have expected a second attack.

Benny leaped up, camera in hand, and wrapped her legs around the pirate's waist, arms around his neck, giving him an excitably, albeit suffocating, embrace. Before Vaas knew what hit him, the woman detached herself from his body, gleeful smile present on her features as she shoved the camera in Vaas' face, thanking him for her 'present'. " _No problemo,"_ he muttered, eyebrows furrowed in puzzlement at the woman's antics. "You gonna run around now and video tape everything in sight?" He chanced a smirk at the excited she-pirate and went about finishing off the disembowelment of the boar.

"Yes!" Benny answered enthusiastically, and wandered off away from the pirate lord. He couldn't help but shake his head and chuckle. She was certainly something else.

The rest of Benny's day was spent, yes, video taping everything in sight. First and foremost, was Scotty. As Benny connected her phone to the CD player in the truck and put it on shuffle—the first song to come on being Liberate from Disturbed—she seated herself next to Scotty by the fire pit, her own beer in hand as she continued to record him. "Hola, Scotty-too-Hottie," she beamed. "Say hello to the people on the internet."

Scotty shook his head and smiled, taking a swig of his beer. He waved a hand at the camera, but that was the extent of his greeting. "People on the internet, this is my cute little man from the South," and her statement was rewarded with a chuckle from the Southern man.

…

"And here are the three amigos," Benny announced to the camera as she brought Luis, Manny, and Pierre onto the screen. "These guys are like, fuckin' inseparable. This is Luis," she pointed the camera to Luis who waved. "This is Manny." Manny greeted the camera with a middle finger as he drank a beer. "And this is French Fry."

"Don't fucking call me French Fry!" came the shout from the French man as he slammed his hand against the camera, knocking the device back into Benny's face.

"Sorry," she murmured none too maturely. "Meow," she muttered as she walked away from the three men. "That was Pierre. He's a bitch." She then put on her best French accent. "Stupeed Americans. Ptooie. I'm sorry, I'm not racist...prejudice...ahem." She walked further from the group and continued. "I know what you're thinking right? A Mexican, a Guatemalan, and a French guy. Haha, yeah I know, but they're like, bros. Seriously, no joke, those guys are always together.

…

"Vaasy-poo, _mi amor,_ how's supper going?" Vaas rolled his eyes once again at the woman as he flipped over a hunk of pork. Benny gasped and brought the meat into view. "Oh my God, bacon! Bacon!"

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Vaas shouted over the over enthusiastic woman.

"Dude, I'm a comedian. My audience demands my entertainment," she explained, pointing the camera to the pirate lord before back down to the meat on the grill. "We gonna eat like fucking kings tonight!" Vaas shoved her away and she wandered around the camp once more before taking a seat on a crate. She zoomed the camera in to Vaas once again, this time though, he was unaware. "That's my boss," Benny stated to the camera pleasantly, watching the tan man poke at the meat with his knife. His skin was glistening with sweat from the heat of the grill and of the day and she caught him blow a breath from his lips as he wiped an arm over his brow. "He's sexy, but I ain't gonna tell him that." A giggle. "Never!"

A few moments later she caught him shake his hips a couple of times to the music—this time the song being Bon, Bon from Pitbull. Actually she caught the Mexican and Guatemalan bouncing around to the beat as well. "Damn you brown people and you're amazing ability to sway your hips like Shakira!" Vaas sent a smirk her way and swung in a circle, once again causing Benny to envy the Hispanic culture.

….

"Oh my God, this pig is fucking devine," Benny said, smiling at the camera. She set it down, still recording, in the middle of the table as she sat to eat, Timmy, Scotty, and Vaas joining her. " _Mi amor,_ your cooking skills are a Godsend." And she smiled at their leader as she shoveled a hefty amount of food into her mouth.

Vaas smiled at the woman with a 'thank you' although the food really wasn't that incredible. It was just boar seasoned with salt and pepper, but whatever floated her fucking boat. "I can't help it. I'm blessed," he said with an egotistical grin. Vinnie started to paw and whine at his own plate of food on the ground, pushing the vegetables around in search for some more meat. "No, no, you gotta eat your vegetables. Don't just push 'em around, eat 'em." The dog whined again and barked up at Vaas who only shooed him away.

When Vaas' attention was fixated on a conversation with Scotty—past battles and women and the like—Benny grabbed a hunk of boar leg off her plate and held it under the table, clicking her tongue for the dog. Vinnie happily grabbed the meat from her hand and she smiled at the dog, scratching its ears and jaw.

The men at the table continued to talk about men stuff such as guns and cars and women again. Benny, not much interested in the conversation, grabbed up her camera again after she had finished her meal and swung it around to Vaas' plate, pieces of boar uneaten atop it. "Bacon!"

"Again with the bacon," Vaas shouted, sending a glare to the woman. "Why the fuck do you keep screaming bacon? Fuck..." he shook his head and lay his arms on the table, still glaring at the woman.

"Because everybody loves bacon," Benny answered matter-of-factly. "Except Muslims, cuz Muslims are racist. I'm just kidding, Muslims aren't racist," she quickly said over the camera. If she were to ever get a hold of some internet and a computer to upload this, she didn't want her captive audience to think she was disrespectful of any culture. "They're just dicks. Great big dicks that flank your fucking unit and beat the crap out of you."

Vaas furrowed his brows. "What are you talking about?"

"Recon mission, past life. We got ambushed by a bunch of Al Quida dickweeds, shot at, then taken prisoner. Spent the better part of three months in a P.O.W. camp getting beaten, raped, and tortured."

"Huh, so you are ex-miliatary," Vaas said with a smirk, leaning back in his seat.

"I guess so," Benny muttered, letting the camera zoom in on Vaas' face. Yes of course she would do that.

"So what happened?" he asked.

"Well I'm here aren't I? Kinda obvious I got out huh?" Well, Vaas was certainly being nosy all of a sudden.

"Is that how you got that scar?"

"Oh wouldn't you like to know," she said, smirking at the pirate lord.

"Seriously, what'd they do, like, disembowel you or stick bags of drugs inside you to transport across the country?" The idea intrigued the man. He knew that scar of hers was something personal, but he never would have guessed...

"Neither," she said, rolling her eyes. Benny rose from the table, camera in hand, and bid the men farewell. "I'll tell you some other time. I'm gonna go find the three amigos."

….

Luis and Manny were head to head in another riveting arm wrestling match. Benny watched as their muscles flexed and pulsed, Manny's a smidgen bigger than Luis'. They cursed to each other in Spanish, Pierre hooting at the both of them in French. Whether either culture knew what the other was saying was unknown, but they seemed not to notice as they all three continued to egg and berate each other. Manny pursed his lips as he pushed at at Luis' hand, the latter's face cringing and contorting as he pushed back, but Manny was always the stronger one and he slammed Luis' hand down to the table knuckles first and Luis breathed out in agitation. " _Pinche cabron,"_ Luis muttered as he wiped his forehead of the accumulated sweat. Pierre laughed and shook Manny's shoulder in a congratulatory manner.

" _Hola, amigos,"_ Benny called out to them, winking.

It only took a few minutes of persuading the men to allow her to finally take on Manny, and Luis held onto her camera as Pierre announce the two to fight. And they went. Benny pushed with all her strength, muscles popping against her skin and the surrounding men marveled at the woman. They had never seen a woman with...well...muscles! They were as big as Luis', which wasn't saying much when comparing the Mexican to any other man, but to a woman, they were quite the proportion.

Manny smirked at the brunette and muttered to her in Spanish and she smirked back, grinding out playful teases back to the shorter, yet well muscled man. "Come on, darlin', show that fucker what ya got," came Scotty's voice as he sauntered into the crowd of men, coming to stand by her side.

"Workin' on it, honey," she said through clenched teeth as she pushed and pushed on the Guatemalan's hand. Little fucker was strong.

The arm wrestling match lasted no longer than three minutes and Manny's hand slammed against the wooden surface of the crate. " _Pinche gringa,"_ he growled out, glaring at the woman.

"Whooh! Booyah!" The woman bounced up and down, her arm rather sore, but her ego once again reaching spectacular heights. "Who's next?"

Benny certainly hadn't expected Timmy to challenge her; he was a fucking tank! No one in the entire world could beat him! But, Benny's ego got the better of her when he said she could use both hands. Well, it didn't quite work out. She pushed and pulled with both hands but Timmy's arm didn't move. Hell, he didn't even push back, just held his arm still, enjoying the exertion Benny was putting herself through. She wasn't one to admit defeat easily. Luckily, she didn't have to. Pierre came between them and started to pull at their hands, in an attempt to help the woman push Timmy's hand down. Timmy was still as tanky as ever and started to push back, especially when Luis and Manny got involved and started to push and pull themselves. Timmy fought back hard, but one woman and three men pushing and pulling on his arm finally pushed him over. The four victors hooted and hollered in victory.

….

"Hola, Mango." Benny had her camera in hand once again and had come upon a lonely Mango, his work at the alarm finished, and he looked rather relieved. "How's it goin'?"

"It's goin," the Filipino answered, picking at his food with his fork. It didn't look like he had eaten much off the plate. "Just waiting to go back to the compound."

"Compound?"

"Yeah...uh, Vaas' place. It's where a bunch of us stay when he's not having us patrol around the island. Pretty sweet actually. We don't have to worry about any Rakyat attacking; the place is like a fucking fortress," he said this with a chuckle. Benny noted this was the first time she had seen this kid smile at her. "We even have internet."

Happy fucking day! "Oh my God, really! Like, for reals internet...with like, computers." Benny was certainly excited. She'd been without internet for weeks and having her camera back now, she was eager to post a new video to her site. Just to let her audience know she wasn't dead.

"Mm-hm," Mango nodded proudly. "It's real shitty, but it works. Oh and Xbox."

Benny's smile widened more, and she whooped again. "Ah shit, man, what does it take to have a bed there?"

Mango chuckled at the woman as she waved her camera around. "Just gotta have Vaas like you. If he sees you as useful, you're in."

"Well fuck if I ain't fucking useful!" and she laughed at the boy who was humored by her antics.

Another five minutes of chatting with Mango—as young as he looked he turned out to be twenty two to Benny's surprise—he mentioned that he was as handy with a gun as he was technology; a crackshot he told her Vaas had said. And that Vaas also liked to think of the kid as a form of luck. "Every time he's gotta go do something, he's gotta rub my head. Get's annoying after a while."

"Didn't think of him as superstitious," Benny mused, imagining the pirate lord rubbing the young Filipino's head every morning. Now Mango didn't say that Vaas did this 'every morning' but it was fun to think of at least.

Mango shrugged and smiled at the woman.

"Oh um...sorry again for knocking you unconscious," Benny told him apologetically.

Mango waved her off and shrugged once again. "Hey, you're one of us now aren't you? If Vaas ever invites you out to the compound, we can can play a little head to head of Call of Duty."

Benny was all too eager to accept the boy's invitation. She hadn't played the game in literally months.

….

Night had fallen finally over the camp and the pirates mingled around the fire pit as the blaze cracked and flitted to life. Each one of the men drinking and smoking like it was going out of style. Vaas reclined in his chair, a beer bottle dangling from his fingers as he relaxed in his seat, taking a drag of a newly lit cigarette. As uneventful as the day had been, it felt good not doing anything remotely business related for once. Vinnie lay at the toes of the pirate lord's boots, doggy snores emitting from the canine's throat. An hour long session of fetch with the men had worn the pooch out.

Vaas cast his eyes to the side to see a bickering Scotty and Benny approach the fire, both already feeling the effects of the alcohol they had consumed throughout the day. "I won, I think I deserve it. I'm just sayin' darlin', what's a woman without her word?"

"You'll get it eventually, honey. Just not now."

"The fuck are you two fighting about?" Vaas grumbled at the pair.

"Benny here owes me a kiss," Scotty said, smirking towards the woman who huffed and pulled her camera away from him and towards their leader. "Made a bet. If I won the race, she'd give me a ten second kiss. I won."

"I said I wasn't going to kiss him in front of everyone, man. Then all the guys would be all like 'oh I want a kiss too, blah blah blah'," Benny fumed.

"Whoah, whoah, whoah, there _hermana_ ," Vaas said as he rose from his seat, being sure to step over the snoozing dog. "You can't just walk around making promises you can't keep." Benny caught him with her camera and she couldn't help but notice how the light of the fire danced around his body and she suddenly wished she had made the bet with Vaas.

_Decisions, decisions Benny._

_Why, Subconscious, where have you been all day?_

"You know what? Gimme the camera." Before Benny knew it, Vaas had snatched her camera from her hands and quickly turned it to her. He was in time to meet a very flabbergasted Benny. "Alright, now, here's how it's gonna go, _mija_."

"Don't call me fuckin' _mija,_ " Benny grunted, crossing her arms and huffing. That dick.

" _Mija."_ Well he certainly liked to push her buttons. "This is how it's gonna go, okay? Regardless if there are men around you or not, you are going to give Scotty what you owe him." Vaas much enjoyed tormenting the woman. He hadn't gotten another chance to do it since he had cut her hair—and gotten into a fist fight with her—and he was itching to push some more buttons. Giving her a devilish smirk, he continued. "You're gonna kiss him, right here, right fucking now. Okay?"

Benny grumbled and Scotty smiled at her. Sticking her tongue out at the man she turned her back to him, though still keeping her eyes on Vaas and her camera. If he so much as smudged it, she was going to go ape shit. "And what if I don't?" she retorted.

"Well," Vaas chuckled cheekily. "Then you get to kiss me."

_Alright, Benny. Moment of truth. Two hot men to decide between. Kiss the ruggedly handsome man from the South, or the ruggedly handsome yet mentally unstable man from...um...Puerto Rico? Is he Puerto Rican?_

_He's not Peurto Rican if he was born here. Mango said he was a native._

_Half Puerto Rican then. Maybe...whatever. Just spin the bottle..._

Benny audibly growled and rolled her eyes. "Well now that hardly seems fair," she said sarcastically, being sure to refrain from smirking at either man.

Vaas laughed pleasantly. So...she was attracted to him was she? No, she couldn't hide it from him. Dangerous crazy girl like her? No, she loved the idea of a thrill ride. "So you _do_ wanna kiss me then."

"Now I never said that-"

"Look will you just kiss me so we can get this over with?" Scotty said, finishing off his beer before throwing it in a random direction and grabbing the woman by the hands.

"Do it, or I'll sing The Little Mermaid song," Vaas warned.

Not much of a warning but...what! "How the hell does Under the Sea apply to anything here?" Benny asked, scrunching her eyebrows together in puzzlement.

"Nononononono, the Shalalalala one. You know shalalalalala da da da duh duh duh da da daa da da da da...kiss dee girl. Mango, how did that song go?"

Mango looked up form his seat by the fire and shook his head. "How should I know I've never seen The Little Mermaid."

"What?" Vaas exclaimed. "You've never—oh _hermano_ you missed out on your childhood." Mango only rolled his eyes and went back to drinking his own beer. It wouldn't be long before he was half in a bag; he was a bit of a light weight, not that he would admit it.

Benny used every ounce of her self control to not burst out into a fit of laughter. Vaas couldn't be fucking serious. "Come on now," the pirate lord continued. "Don't make me sing a song I don't know the words to."

Benny was a little at odds with herself. Kiss the Texan, or kiss the Hispanic...Rook Islander...whatever the hell he was. Ah, she wouldn't give Vaas the satisfaction. She turned to Scotty and pulled at his shirt, the Texan responding with a very proud and flirtatious smirk, as always. Benny shook her head, glanced over at Vaas with her camera, then back up to Scotty. Standing on her toes—she was much shorter than the six foot tall man—and brought her face towards his. Smirking, she said, "You're lucky you're so fucking cute," then closed the distance of their lips, becoming suddenly oblivious to the jeering men around her.

She had often wondered what it would be like to kiss the Southerner, how his lips would feel, how the stubble on his face might scratch her skin. And now she knew. It was soft, and experienced. The man knew how to kiss, that was for sure. And this wasn't a simple flat mouthed ten second long peck. It was much more. His lips moved against hers in a rhythm she hadn't felt in a long while, going from clasping onto her top lip to sucking on her bottom one. And Benny didn't hesitate to return each act. A knot was twisting in her stomach as Scotty's hand started to caress her cheek, rough fingers moving along her skin kindly. This felt...absolutely amazing. Her fingers pulled tighter at the man's shirt and her other hand moved to rest at his side, just over the stab wound. She could feel the bandage under the fabric of the wife-beater and the warmth of his skin as the heat of the night and the fire warmed his body. A familiar sensation was creeping through her abdomen with every touch of his lips on hers. If he asked, she was sure she couldn't deny the man a sexcapade.

Benny had lost count of the seconds in her head and when she pulled away, bright blue eyes looked into her's with an emotion she couldn't comprehend. It was strange; the usual glinting mischievous blue was replaced with...something...something that made his eyes softer. Not even the same smirk as usual was on his lips. Something different again. What was that? It wasn't lust...Benny was confused.

The sound of Vaas' voice interjected her thoughts and she let go of the blonde man to face the other, who stood before them with an ever present smirk upon his face. "Wow," he said quietly, shaking his head and snickering. "I thought you said ten seconds...not twenty."

Crap.

….

The rest of the night, Scotty was his usual self again, joking and laughing with his fellow pirates and still calling her darlin'. Benny didn't dwell on that strange emotion she had seen in his eyes after their kiss and continued on with the night as any normal upbeat girl would. Drinking, smoking, and dancing with every man in the camp. A couple of country songs had come on encouraging both Benny and Scotty to sing along to the lyrics, much to Vaas' dismay.

The minute one of those God aweful American country songs came on Vaas found himself covering his ears as Scotty and Benny started to sing and dance along and he wondered why in the world anyone would actually like this music. It was when Mango joined in with one particular song did he have half a mind to shoot himself in the head. "You actually like this shit?" he asked the Filipino as the boy grabbed onto Benny's hand and began to spin and jump with her.

"It's the Nelly remix, and he makes any genre sound good," Mango stated before waving the man off.

It was beginning to become a long night unless the pirate lord decided to do something about it. When Mango and Benny started to grind on one another, Vaas took it upon himself to grab the woman's phone and press the Next button. Some metal song by a band he didn't know, but it was better than that shit those three were dancing to.

After another hour or so, Mango's light weight body began to give in to the alcohol he was consuming and the boy could barely walk two steps without stumbling and tripping, at one point falling onto Vaas' lap and laughing up at the man. "I think somebody needs to go to bed," the older man mumbled to the boy and the Filipino wrapped his arms around his superior's neck and giggled.

"Are you gonna tuck me in, Vaasy-poo?" he slurred, then went on into a rant in Philippine which none of the men, or woman, could understand.

The man growled and flung the younger pirate off of him, kicking him away easily. "Fucking faggot," he murmured, glowering down at Mango as the boy struggled to his knees.

It was the kid's turn to be agitated. "How many fuckin' times do I gotta say it!" he shouted to Vaas as he rose unsteadily to his feet, glaring at the other pirate. "I'm not fucking gay! I like girls! Everyone always fucking-" he went off another rant with his native tongue and the pirate lord rolled his eyes and rubbed his head.

"Come on Mango," came the voice of Scotty who put a hand on the boy's shoulder in attempts to calm the young pirate from his fuming state. "What's say we call it a night?"

The boy growled and whined and stumbled by the Southern man. "I don't wanna go to bed," he whined to the man, huffing at the ground. He tried to push away from the blonde man but only managed to stumble into the man's chest. Scotty caught him easily and guided the young Filipino towards their sleeping quarters.

Benny hopped up onto Vaas' lap just as the man was ready to call it a night. They'd be heading out tomorrow morning to course through the rest of the outposts for the next few days and he still wasn't sure about the woman pirate that had graced his island so suddenly. He hadn't really had a plan for her; he was surprised she lasted as long as she had. Maybe it was that vivacious energy she had, that hardcore badass persona that shadowed over her when she was about to draw blood, or even her new haircut. Hell maybe it was her dancing with his dog—his poor excuse for an attack dog—whatever it was, it was itching at his brain about her and it bothered him greatly that he couldn't dig his nails through his head to scratch it.

The woman bounced around on top of him then pulled him out of his chair demanding he partake in the festivities now that her 'horrible' country songs had ceased. The man obliged, taking her hands and following her around the fire.

Over the next few songs, the men started to disperse; Timmy taking another turn on watch with Manny and Pierre this time. Molotov Man—whom Benny had actually gotten to dance with her, even though he did make a couple of grabs at her chest—Luis, and the rest of the pirates were slowly dwindling away into the night, sleep grabbing at their eyes with a heavy grip.

Vaas and Benny remained by the fire, Vinnie the dog splayed out in the front seat of the truck. Benny took a drink from her bottle and smiled up at the man who flicked a finished cigarette to the ground. _He has pretty eyes._

_Yes Benny, we've been over this already._

_Still..._

The fire lit up the man's body in an almost otherworldly glow, and shadows danced around them and Benny was tempted to write out a poem about it.

_Oh beautiful fire on rabid man, what have I done to deserve such a..._

_Shut up before you hurt yourself._

_Dammit._

"The fuck is this song?" came Vaas as he glanced at the truck curiously. It was strange sounding, American definitely, but nothing he had ever heard before.

Benny chuckled as the familiar song alighted old memories. "Earth Angel," she told him. "By The Temptations. It's Oldies," she explained, swaying her body from side to side as the song wrapped around her.

"Sounds corny," Vaas said with a snort. "All romantic and shit..."

"That's the point of a love song. Come on..." Benny took his hands in hers, feeling those calloused fingers as she rose his left hand up and put his right at her waist. "Ya gotta slow dance to it." And with a smirk, she let her free hand rest on his shoulder and ecouraged him to dance with her.

Vaas was no stranger to the slow dance but he hadn't exactly envisioned doing it so early in the game. "You're something different, _mi amiga,"_ the man started, arching an eyebrow. "Never before have I seen a woman like you."

"Why, Mr. Montenegro, I daresay was that a compliment?" Benny asked with a smirk and flirtatious eyes.

"More of an observation, _hermosa._ " he said, smiling back.

_Aw, look, he called you something nice._

_Well huzzahs for me._

"Could I take it as a compliment anyway?"

Vaas shrugged the shoulder Benny's hand lay on. "As you wish."

Their dance was slow and steady, the both of them barely even moving off of their feet as they moved this way and that. Benny watched his eyes glimmer with the fire light, the greens getting lost in the browns. It was quite alluring actually. The way his eyes darkened whenever he faced away from the fire.

Vaas caught the same look in Benny's own eyes. The dark green growing to an almost black color. He had caught the new bruises on her neck from her recent Rakyat fight and had seen clear as day the cuts and scratches she had accumulated over her last few weeks on his island. But he wished he had been here to see her killer side, that she-wolf inside of her that hungered for the blood and flesh of a human being as much as his own beast. He knew that feeling all too well after a fresh kill. That surge of energy that crawled through one's veins sending them on a high that rivaled that of the best selling drugs.

"So," he started, grabbing the woman's full attention. "You won't tell me about the scar...what about the ink, hm? Do you feel open talking about that?"

"Which one?" she asked, letting her fingers sneakily glide along the smooth skin of his shoulder.

"The wolf one," Vaas said, knowing full well about the attention his shoulder was giving, but he kept quiet about it.

Benny released herself from the man and turned her back to him, lifting up her shirt. She had the decency to leave her bra alone; she wasn't about to give this devilish man any kind of opportunity.

Vaas looked with interest at the pictures inked into her back. The heads of two wolves, one passive, the other its teeth bared, a full moon behind them. Above them, Benny quoted "There is a battle of two wolves inside us all." She then quoted the words under the animals. "One is Evil. It is anger, jealousy, greed, resentment, lies, inferiority, and ego.

"The other is good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, humility, kindness, empathy and truth.

"The wolf that wins? The one you feed." Benny pulled her shirt back down. She then resumed her place in front of the man, holding one hand putting the other at his shoulder, the man taking his previous place as well and they continued the slow back and forth dance once again.

"That was pretty deep," Vaas commented. And he was truthful. He knew a good tattoo when he saw one. And he could tell this one was struck into the woman's mind long before the shit that brought her here had set in. Long before.

"Cherokee proverb," Benny explained. "My dad was half Cherokee and really spiritual. He said everyone has a spirit animal that guides them down the paths they choose in life."

"So I take it you fed the evil wolf then," Vaas presumed, noticing that her fingers were once again kneading his shoulder.

"Honestly..." Benny sighed and looked away from the man and into the burning flames beside them. The fire was dying and the wood that fueled it was quickly turning to ash. A bright light, eating away at itself. She chanced a smile at the man before her. "My daddy said that...when I was born, I brought so much light into his life, that it swept away all of the darkness." Vaas rose a brow at this statement. Well that had certainly come out of nowhere. "We're not born into what we are, you and me, Vaas. We're made this way. And if my spirit animal is a ravenous wolf guiding me down the path of Evil...heh, well, who am I to deny it sustenance. After all...that other wolf died a long time ago."

Vaas listened and contemplated, and came to a conclusion. He wanted to see this woman's blood lust. He wanted to see her quench her thirst for a living soul's life and feed that ravenous animal within her.

"You got any tattoos?" Benny asked, putting the matter of wolves and spirit guides aside.

Vaas shook his head, curling his lip. "Never much cared for 'em. I mean, they look good on you, don't get me wrong. Just was never my thing. I got plenty of scars already adorning this body. Why color 'em in, hah?"

"Good point," Benny said. She could tell their song was coming to an end and she admitted, she was tired as fuck. A long exciting day filled with dangerous man eating turkeys and video taping everything in sight followed by long hours of drinking and smoking cigarettes left her exhausted.

"So why don't you wanna talk about that scar?" Vaas asked and Benny blinked.

"Well why don't you wanna talk about your's?" she countered.

"You never asked."

"Okay, how'd you get that scar on your head?"

"Meh, family matters," he said casually with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Thank you for going into detail," Benny said with a roll of her eyes. "See what I mean?"

"I'm just a curious guy. What can I say?"

Benny shook her head and just continued to let her eyes wander over the physique of the man before her. A rugged young stud to say the least and she liked what she saw. She wondered just how many scars he had on his body. No doubt a few knife and bullet wounds just like her body had accumulated. And of course the occasional accidents that left their mark. Benny was tempted to pull his shirt off and examine that divine body of his in search for all of his battle scars. But he might take that the wrong way and assume that she wanted sex.

_You do._

_Shut the fuck up._

"Will you ever tell me your real name?" Vaas asked, tilting his head and meeting his eyes with her wandering ones.

Benny looked up and met his gaze. He was very adamant on keeping her eyes on his. She chuckled. "Come on now, Vaas...do I have to spell it out for you?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean..." she traced a finger along an old scar near his bicep. "I already told you, dude." She smiled up at him and she felt her stomach tingle and fuzz again. She was suddenly very confused. She had kissed Scotty and felt some weird feeling inside that she was sure couldn't be that feeling she had locked out so many years ago. But, Benny was also feeling fuzzy around Vaas. What the fuck was she even thinking?

"When?" Vaas asked expectantly, noticing that the song was starting to die down just when he was actually starting to judge it as a good one.

" _Mi amor,_ you need to go Google our conversation. Aside from that, I'm not gonna repeat myself." Benny released herself from the pirate lord, walking slowly to the truck to disconnect her phone from the CD player. It was close to dead.

Benny moved to head to the shanty she shared with the rest of the men when a strong hand wrapped itself around her wrist. She looked back to that murderous beast of a man, smirking. "How would you like to come with me tomorrow?"

"What?' Benny blinked, then blinked again. Was Vaas asking her if she...if she wanted to accompany him tomorrow...to the compound?

"There's a bed open to a man, uh, person of your talents back at my place. We've got all the comforts you could want. Shower, internet, great speaker set up for the occasional party," he laughed. "Your own room. Wouldn't you like that, hah? Your own space?"

The excitement rising inside of Benny was unbelievable. He was...he was...

_Oh shit Benny, he just invited you to his house._

_No it's not that. My own room! My own fucking room! Do you have any idea how long I've been waiting for some personal fucking space!_

Squashing the squeeling little girl ready to pop out of her, Benny lifted her chin with pride and answered. "Vaas...it'd be fucking fantastic. But don't think that me saying yes is an invitation for you to come prowling into my bed at odd hours of the night."

 _"Hermana,_ I wouldn't dream of it." Of course he was fucking lying, but she knew that. She'd be stupid to think otherwise.

"Oh you lie like a rug Vaas Montenegro." And she twisted her wrist from his grasp and made her way towards what called to her most tonight. Rest.

"Vaasco. That's my full name. No one ever really called me that though. Not even my own mama."

Benny stopped and turned to gaze once more at the pirate lord who stood before the dying fire, hand at his waist, the other hanging lazily at his side. He looked almost...casually demonic. And it just sent a flurry of pervasive thoughts through Benny's mind. " _Vaasco,"_ she repeated the word carefully. "Sexy," she said with a smirk. "Remind me to Google that when we get to your house." And she waved a goodbye with her fingers and slunk into the shanty, body begging for rest.

Laying herself down on her cot she caught the silhouette of Scotty rolling in his own bed in the dark. Seeing him and feeling him so near, Benny's hormones were raging like a motherfucking storm inside of her and she need some release bad. And it definitely wasn't going to come from the pirate lord.

**XXX**


	8. Did You Brush Your Teeth?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And we finally get to some explicit sexual content. Alright. Followed by car accidents and crocodile attacks.

**XXX**

Strange Waters

Chapter 8

Did You Brush Your Teeth?

XXX

She wasn't quite sure what the fuck it was that had woken her up at the near ass crack of dawn. Normally, a night of drinking would put her into a comatose like state that she would only awaken from should some living organism either A: try to put the moves on her, or B: drag her out of bed. But this, this she wasn't quite sure of. It couldn't even have been six in the morning yet—she was sure she had called it a night around three—but she had awakened to a silent shanty. Silent for the most part that is. Molotov Man was snoring like it was going out of style, Luis was hugging an empty beer bottle and mumbling in his sleep, and Pierre was coming in from his watch shift, muttering in French and quickly laying claim to his cot and passing out as soon as his weary body hit the mat. Benny squinted her eyes around the man filled shanty and came to one conclusion: she was getting sick and tired of the smell. _This place Vaas offered me better be a fuck load cleaner,_ she thought, rubbing her tired eyes. What the hell had woken her up?

That was the question that she was muddling over in her head as she trekked through the jungle encircling the camp. Tired as she was, she had risen sorely from her bed, pulled on her boots without even bothering to tie them, and sauntered out into the morning air. It was thick with humidity and she instantly started to sweat and tire from the walk. Why was she walking through the jungle you might ask? Well...it could have been the fact that Scotty's sleeping form was no longer in the shanty, nor was it around the outpost. Benny may have remembered something uttered last night about him taking the morning watch, but she wasn't particularly sure. But her curiosity always got the better of her, and she wound up taking it upon herself to investigate the disappearance of her Southern man.

Due to her tired state, Benny had a hard time navigating around the foliage, the fallen tree, and the upturned earth. She had stumbled many a time and tripped over a few sticks, cursing under her breath and cursing even louder when a tree branch thwacked her in the face. "I fucking hate nature," she muttered, rubbing her now sore cheek. "Stupid tree." She kicked the tree for revenge and continued on, not even caring if the poor tree were to suddenly burst into tears. Benny's throat started to dry and her nose started an insane back and forth manner of running and drying, and even her eyes started to water. She was wandering through a small growth of tropical flowers she neither knew, or cared to know the names of. And she was quickly regretting ever leaving the camp.

Her allergies seemed to dissipate suddenly though (mainly due to the fact that she was no longer near those dreadful flowers) when the form of a sculpted-by-the-Gods Scotty came into view. He was walking along the dirt road that wound around the camp before it came to the front where there would be two other pirates standing watch. He kicked at the dirt a couple of times, swinging his shotgun lazily by his side as he walked. Scotty was bored. That much could be determined. Benny didn't know what to do now. She had satiated her curiosity; Scotty was fine, he was just standing watch like he had said he was going to...at least she thought he said he was going to. It was either him or Lupo, AKA Molotov Man, that was to take morning watch...Benny shrugged. Either way, it was Scotty walking the trails, and not Molotov Man. Still though, she should have gone back to the camp. She was acquiring another few hundred unwanted bug bites by wandering through the jungle and she swatted at her neck, then her face, then her shoulders, then she grunted in agitation and smacked one of those little fuckers as it stuck its little pointy mouth right into her shoulder blade.

Benny froze as she saw Scotty quickly twist around, raising his shotgun and ready to shoot and kill anything that was about to jump out from the brush. Benny squeaked, involuntary of course, and rose her hands in defense. "Whoah, dude, chillax, just me," she said calmly.

"Tryin' to give me a heart attack, huh darlin'?" Scotty chuckled and pulled his gun away, resuming his pacing along the trails. Benny followed.

"Well I was, but, apparently that didn't work did it?" Benny said jokingly, pushing Scotty's shoulder with her own. Scotty laughed lowly and lay his shotgun over his shoulder, smirking at the woman as she joined him. They walked silently, both a tad tired and therefore not being able to come up with much to say. You'd think after having a slightly heated kiss the previous night, followed by alcohol induced dancing and singing, they would have at least...well...something to say.

"Heard Vaas talkin' to ya last night," Scotty started. "Offered you a place at his side did he?" The tone he used put Benny on edge a little. He sounded almost...cold about the matter. Benny knew the Texan didn't think much of their leader, but he never really stated that he disliked him or hated him in anyway. More or less, he simply implied that he didn't feel comfortable around the man.

Benny shrugged, biting her lip. "I don't think it's really at his _side,_ " she said with a tilt of her head. "Maybe, diagonally behind him or something; I'm sure Carlos and Mango are the ones at his sides. I'm just a noob really. I mean, I don't even know full well how shit's run here. Yeah I know how it's run, but not, ya know, _how._ " She kicked at a rock and shrugged once again. "It's a tad different then what I've seen. I've been around the block a few times believe it or not."

"Funny," Scotty said with a smirk. "You seem almost excited."

"Well I kinda am dude. I mean, I'm moving up in the ranks. I've been waiting for an opportunity like this for a long time! And...I'm not gonna let it get past me."

"You like working for a psycho?" Once again, he used that cold tone when he spoke of Vaas.

Benny shrugged again, flipping the locks of her Mohawk away from her eyes. "I don't think he's very psychotic," she said, jumping over a stick that didn't necessarily need to be _jumped_ over. "He's just different, that's all. I don't know, what makes you think he's so psychotic?"

Scotty scoffed and stopped to eye the girl with a sudden curiosity. "Have you seen what that fucker's done? I mean, look what he did to you."

"He cut my hair. Whoopidy-damn-freakin'-doo," she said with a roll of her eyes and pulled at the Mohawk for emphasis.

"He had you cut a girl's tits out," he said with a sudden accusation in his voice.

"Hey, he didn't really tell me to cut her tits out. He just told me to be creative. I was the one that kinda implied cutting her tits out since I had mentioned they were fake earlier. If anything, I was the one that wanted to do it. He just gave me a knife."

"Whatever you say darlin'. I'd just be careful around him. Never know when he's gonna snap and blow someone's head off."

Benny left the matter at that. She could have literally gone off on a rant of her opinion on the origins of a person turning psychotic and whatnots and what makes crazy and what doesn't, but she decided to leave it alone. Vaas really didn't strike her as _psychotic_. Really he didn't. "And what makes you think I'm not crazy?" Well, she hadn't meant to continue the conversation, but her subconscious had other ideas.

_Dammit, I'm too tired to argue with you right now._

_Shut up and take it cuz I'm always gonna be here._

_Fuck you._

"What makes you think you are?" Scotty countered with a quirked brow.

Benny shrugged. "I must be, right?" She smiled. "Or I wouldn't've come here." Her smile grew and Scotty couldn't help the smirk.

(Quick A/N: I just paraphrased the SHIT outta that Alice in Wonderland quote thinger! Booyah!)

"You got a point, darlin'. What are we here on this island if we ain't crazy, huh?" He smiled down at the brunette who giggled, bit her lip, and bounced on her heels.

"I know right?" Benny pulled at her Mohawk again and took notice of the sweat that was accumulating at her scalp. The humidity was almost unbearable, especially for this time of day when the sun was barely rising. She sighed and wiped her forehead. She could feel her body become sticky from the humid air, and Scotty's wasn't any better...not that Benny could complain. As the man readjusted the shotgun on his shoulder, Benny took her time to admire his physique once again. He was a tall man, at an even six feet, and heavy with muscle, no doubt from years spent at a gym, or at least in home work outs. Benny had caught him do a routine of push ups and sit ups in the mornings, and she would just simply watch him as she lay in her cot, every once in a while giving him a cheer or singing Eye of the Tiger to him, with which he would respond with a chuckle and a shake of his head.

Benny had seen the Texan shirtless many a time too, due to the heat of the tropics, he would usually pull off any one of his multiple wife beaters he owned and go about his business as the sun tanned his skin and covered him in a layer of sweat that would shine on him and, for the most part, excite the brunette. As if a half naked Southern man doing heavy lifting wouldn't make any girl gush at the sight...

"Anyone ever tell ya you're a good kisser?" There was the ice breaker! And just in time too; Benny was getting a little carried away with her thoughts. She looked at Scotty with a grin and laughed.

"Yeah, they have," she said proudly, skipping slowly to Scotty's wide gait. Even though it was still the butt-crack of dawn, she found a smidgen of energy to entertain the Southern man with. She really was proud of the compliment too. She knew she was a good kisser, and she had been told so many a time. "What can I say? I'm a total pro." Scotty laughed at her lingo and shook his head. "You're not so bad yourself," Benny mentioned, giving the Texan a flirty smirk.

It was Scotty's turn to feel proud. "Well I've had many years to get it right ya know. Goin' on thirty-two, I should know how to kiss, don't ya think?"

"Thirty-two? Wow, you are _old,_ " Benny said, giggling and poking the man in the shoulder.

"Hey now, I ain't that old..."

"Sure you are. I mean, hehe, you prolly can't even get it up anymore, huh? I mean, if you do you prolly have to go to Bob for some Enzyte." Benny was amusing herself now and she couldn't help the stupid grin followed by the heavy chuckles. "For natural male enhancement," she said in her best commercial announcer voice and broke out in a fit of giggles that caused both her and Scotty to stop in their tracks, Scotty though in order to glare down at the woman, still smirking of course.

"Alright first of all, I'm pretty sure Enzyte is to _enhance_ your size, in which case, I don't need no natural male enhancement, darlin'. I'm fully capable of handlin' a woman. Ain't ever had any complaints."

"Really now?" Benny didn't necessarily mean to come off as flirtatious...

_Or did you?_

_Does it matter? God, Subconscious, go to sleep!_

_Never!_

The humidity was beginning to agitate Benny more and more, and she was growing quite sick of being sweaty and sticky. Her arms were no longer of great use for wiping away the sweat on her face so, without any hesitation, she pulled up the top of her shirt to swipe it over her forehead, exposing the scar on her abdomen to the blonde man before her. Scotty frowned as he caught the sight of the scar and furrowed his brow. "Torture huh?" he asked absently.

Benny realized right away what it was Scotty was asking about and nodded her head under her shirt before pulling the collar back down, still keeping the t-shirt risen over the scar. Really, she should have just taken it off it was so fucking hot. "Yup. Middle Eastern fucks...what can ya do huh?" she said with a smirk and snickered. Scotty took notice of what little effects the memories had on the woman. She was either trying to repress them, or she truly didn't rightly give a fuck about the past.

Scotty scratched at his chin and averted his eyes away to something maybe a little less horrific to look at. Hmm, that tree looked nice. "Right," he answered, as if he actually understood what she had been through. He hadn't, at least not in that aspect. He'd seen his fair share of war times but he had never been captured and held prisoner. Scotty glanced again at the scar, seeing the woman adorning it still giving a little smirk. He took a step towards her. "If you don't mind me askin', how did ya get it? I mean, if you weren't disemboweled or stuffed with drugs..." he trailed off, eyes scanning over the scar, then back to Benny's own eyes. She had nice eyes...maybe nice wasn't a good word for them. Dangerous if anything, but it still sparked his interest.

Benny sighed, still chancing a smirk. "Let's just say I fucked the wrong guy and their leader wasn't too happy about it. Left me to bleed out and die." Scotty didn't push the matter and merely nodded, once again averting his eyes to the trees. Benny seemed puzzled at his sudden disinterest. So what if she had a huge jagged scar running down her abdomen? So the fuck what! Whoopdy-damn-freakin'-doo! Benny rolled her eyes at the Texan and while his gaze was still averted, she pulled her shirt over her head, bra and all, and waited for his response.

Scotty stared dumbfounded. Had she just...she just...well damn, boy, she just took her fuckin' shirt off. The blonde bit his lip and let his eyes wander over the now half naked woman before him as she looked up at him expectantly. He didn't know what the hell to think of this gesture. After all, it's not like she had been offering herself out on the market recently, though the kiss did leave something between them that he hadn't been able to put a finger on...

"What's the first thing you see when you look at me?" The brunette's demand brought him back to reality and he stared at the woman as she looked up to meet his eyes. "My scar, or my tits?"

Yup. Everything that was happening Scotty would have never expected in a million years to happen. First of all, the woman whom he had admitted he was attracted to, though slightly wary of due to her blood thirsty nature—hence he had never administered the 'first move'—was standing before him half fucking naked, glistening with sweat and a feral look in her eyes. The feral part was what got Scotty's heart pumping first. Second of all, she was a free woman, with a free mind and a free will to do whatever she so pleased. Not like the other girls he had come into contact with on this island, whether they be prostitutes or slaves; Benny was free, and his heart started to beat faster. He wandered his eyes over every inch of her body, from the boots at her feet to the belt at her waist, to the scar on her stomach to the breasts on her chest, to the tattoo on her right wrist and the sweatband on her left, and finally, to her eyes. Those dark green eyes that held a ferocity in them that grabbed at his own inner beast and tugged with all its might, scratching and clawing at him and urging him towards her...

Scotty's smirk returned. "Your eyes..."

Benny rose an eyebrow and curled her lip, confusion pulling at her once dominant demeanor. "What?" she asked, glancing from this side to the other and looking back at the man before her.

Scotty took another step towards the woman, leaving only a foot worth of a gap between them. "I said your eyes," he told her, cocking his head to the side and smiling. Benny still seemed puzzled.

"My eyes?"

"They're real pretty," the Texan said, meeting the jungle green with his light blue. "And dark colored...like the jungle." He waved a hand towards said jungle, but never faltered in locking his gaze with the brunette. "They got this fire in 'em...this wild fire that just, just fuckin' shines ya know. Like, like you've seen it all, and like you've got nothing to hide. There's a danger in there, and no man would stand a chance against it."

Benny wandered her eyes away from the man, biting her lip and glancing around the trees and bushes and grass before bringing them back to Scotty's. "Um...wow," she said finally with a smile. "I think, heh, I think that's gotta be one of the nicest things anyone's ever said to me." Talk about being on cloud nine; Benny's ego was once again through the roof, and Scotty's proximity and compliments were sending a tingling sensation through her abdomen once again. Hell, she even forgot she didn't have a shirt on anymore...or bra.

Scotty's body inched closer and Benny could feel her heart pounding against her chest and when he placed a hand on her stomach, fingers tracing the line of the scar, she swore she felt goosebumps on her shoulders. The Texans hands were rough against the smooth tanning skin of her abdomen, and she felt those coarse fingers of his trace the scar up her body, back down, then up again and as he reached the top most part of that scar with his thumb, Benny's breath hitched and she winced from how obvious she was being. Unfortunately for her, Scotty caught the sensations he sent through the woman pirate before him and he inched even closer, his wandering hand moving from Benny's stomach to caress the skin on her side, his other still holding his shotgun at his shoulder.

Benny looked up, once again meeting those soft blue eyes and that famous smirk, and she couldn't help a little grin and a snicker. "Do you mind?" his voice was low, rough, and oh so down home country romance novel sounding.

"Mind what?" Benny's vision was becoming hazy for the most part. She could only see the man before her, and the idea of a jungle surrounding them didn't seem to register in her mind which was quickly becoming overrun with pervasive thoughts.

Scotty bent his body so that his forehead was nearly touching her own, and he said huskily, "if I kiss you again."

Well, if this were a down home country romance novel, Benny's knees would have gave out and it'd be up to the Texan to hold her up on her own feet. Luckily for Benny, this was not a down home country romance novel, but real life. Still, her knees did feel a little weak. She didn't answer, but she didn't have to. Scotty pressed his lips against hers, moving in a passionate matter that once again, sent a flutter through Benny's stomach and she couldn't help the small smile that she spread into the kiss, followed closely by Scotty's own. His hand was caressing her cheek just as it had before, and his lips were moving against her own, clasping onto her bottom one, then the top, then pressing against both with something possessive. Benny's eyes closed of their own accord and she brought her hands up to run her fingers through those blonde locks of his, dropping her clothing to the ground.

To Scotty's surprise, it was Benny who was trying to gain access into his mouth by pushing her tongue against his lips, and he'd be a complete moron not to comply. They're breathing grew rapid as their tongues battled with one another's, hands roaming over each others bodies in a blind dance, and Scotty's shotgun joined Benny's shirt in the grass. His hands grasped at her waist and it didn't take long before he had her pinned up against the nearest tree, not that Benny minded much, though the bark was a tad scratchy on her back.

Benny ran her hands through Scotty's hair, pulling and tugging him against the kiss as her tongue surveyed every nook and cranny of the Southern man's mouth. Scotty's hands wandered from Benny's sides and up to her chest, kneading and squeezing at her breasts, his thumbs brushing against each nipple in a teasing way that had Benny pulling at his hair even harder. The man grunted a response into the kiss before he pulled away from the needing woman, running his lips over her jaw, down her neck and down her chest. Benny's hold of his hair was ever present as he sucked and nipped his way around her breasts, his fingers fondling with the clasp of her belt.

Benny's head was reeling and her senses were on a high. Every touch this man below her made to her skin drove her crazy; every nip and bite and kiss and finger touch was pulling her into a world of pure bliss and she was happy for the relief she was finally going to receive. Finally. Scotty worked his way back up, licking his tongue along the scar, planting a kiss here and there, up over her chest and back to her mouth. Benny took his tongue back greedily, fingers of one hand still tangled in his hair as her other clawed at his shoulder, scratched down his arm, and came down to his own belt, which she unbuckled hastily and quickly undid his pants. The brunette moaned into Scotty's mouth when the man's hand delved below her waistband and he came to a marvelous discovery. Benny was not wearing any underwear. Well, if that didn't add to the heat of the moment...

Benny gasped as his fingers worked a rhythm between her legs, pressing and teasing before finally finding their way inside of her. Her mouth opened in a throaty moan against Scotty's lips and her hand at his waist was wasting no time in returning the sensations as it slipped down the opened waist of his pants, brushing past the coarse hairs that adorned his pelvis, and finally gripping onto its prey. Scotty wasn't lying. He was for certain well endowed, and Benny also noted that he was circumcised. _Not a surprise, he's white._

_Irrelevant, Benny!_

_It's not my fault I think circumcised penises look weird._

_Don't be so fucking picky; it's nice isn't it?_

_Yeah it is still nice, I mean, dicks and all._

It was Scotty's turn to moan into the kiss. It had been a good while since he had had any woman remotely near his dick and he had to admit, it was fucking amazing. As he massaged at that sweet spot inside the groaning woman before him, she in turn, squeezed and pumped his cock, his eyes peeking open every once in a while to see that ferocity in those dark green orbs. Benny bit his lip and he winced, she clawed at his neck and he groaned, and when she started to pull on his shirt, he wasted no time in ridding it from his body and smashing himself against the brunette, their lips mashing together in a violent manner as they're hands pleased one another, and Scotty was growing far too aroused for foreplay.

It took only moments before he rid Benny of her cargos, in the process the woman's fine grace landing them both in the grass. Neither seemed to notice as Scotty took his place between Benny's legs, noticing the word JOKER tattooed down her right thigh in a sharp looking font. He began planting hungry kisses on her throat and running his hands down her tattooed leg. A laugh escaped his lips and he brought them to Benny's ear. "I see you got a hold of my razor after all," he said lowly, breath hot against Benny's skin and she shuddered, smirking to the air as she wound her arms around his torso.

"Oops, I couldn't help myself," she said with a giggle and met Scotty jaw with her lips, the stubble on his cheeks scratching against her skin.

"You little sneak thief..." They're conversation ended there and Scotty resumed his kisses and Benny resumed her scratching. The tingling in her abdomen was driving her insane, and the soft touches Scotty gave her body were reeling her senses. This was too soft. Much too soft; she needed it harder, more wild, more violent...

"Fuck," Scotty grunted as he felt the woman's teeth sink into his shoulder. He hissed through his teeth and thrust himself against her body, grabbing tightly to her thigh and pulling his nails along the soft flesh. Benny was greedy, and she made her needs known. He didn't know whether the pain she was sending throughout his body was a good thing, or a bad thing, but one thing he was certain of, he needed to get inside of that wanting body, and badly.

Benny felt the rough hands of the Texan as he pushed at her neck, pulling her teeth from his skin and laying her back upon the grass. The pain was still there, and Scotty was half tempted to examine the wound for blood. Benny's grinding hips against his own though squashed any examination and he quickly slid his pants down with one hand, the other he used to hold the struggling brunette down as she tried once again to nip at his shoulder, his neck, and even his jaw. As he positioned himself between the woman's legs once again, her knees at his chest stopped him before he could satiate his lust...

"Hey, now, Country Boy," Benny panted, arms laying lazily over her head. "I didn't come half way around the world to acquire some kind of STD." Scotty sighed, smirked at the woman, and lent back behind him, rummaging through the pockets of his cargos—he was a well prepared man—before repositioning himself once again, tearing open the package and rolling the condom on.

_He was prepared wasn't he?_

_Oh shut up, so what if he has totally been planning on getting into my pants?_

_That's why you came out here isn't it? You little horn dog you._

_Fuck, I just don't care._

"Satisfied?" he said breathily, supporting his weight over the excited woman with a hand on either side of her head. Scotty pushed in, and breathed in, then out, and Benny grew ever more aroused. The expressions on his face going from one emotion to the other with every thrust, and Benny's breathing hitched again, her arms wrapping around that strong body above her, her hips raising up to meet Scotty's every time... It was fucking ecstasy. With each thrust, Scotty pushed harder, elicting gasps and mewls from the woman below, her nails digging into the sun tanned flesh of the Southern man with a greedy want and her eyes closed tightly, a tightening feeling inside of her body wanting to come loose; her toes curled and went numb with each impalement, her legs growing tingly, and her gasps turning into moans, the mewls turning into groans.

Scotty felt Benny's inner walls tighten around his cock and he pounded harder, faster, panting into her ear and he felt her fingers find his hair once again, pulling at the long blonde locks fiercely, forcing his head back so as to grant the woman access to his jaw, neck, and shoulders once again. Her teeth nibbled, lips sucked, and nails raked; she was a feral woman. She rose her hips up again, grinding them against his own and he took to thrusting even harder, grunting at the exertion and reveling in the animalistic sounds escaping Benny's throat as her body started to shake. Her orgasm was coming quickly and he pounded into her, hitting that same spot inside of her every time and her nails on his back were starting to dig through his flesh, and he was certain he'd have marks to show for it afterward.

Benny could feel it; her legs and feet became an absolute numb and her body started to rack and she arched her back, mouth hanging open to let loose a long growl. Her body tightened around his as she shook with her orgasm and Scotty could feel his climax coming on. He thrust faster, pumping into the woman with a force that rocked their bodies against the grassy earth and he could feel that tightening presence within. Benny held his head back by his hair, taking in that beautiful face of his as his eyebrows knit together, his eyes closing shut and his mouth hanging open as he let out a breathy groan, his thrusts dimming down to a tiny push, his hands gripping onto the woman's shoulders as he panted into her ear.

Sweat covered their bodies, sticking their skin together with the humid air, dirt easily plastering onto their arms and legs. A few droplets ran down Scotty's cheeks as he rose his head up, his eyes half lidded, blue orbs glazed over. His fingers found her hair, and he ran them through the sweaty strands, smirking and letting out a subtle chuckle which Benny happily returned. Their sexual tension had now diminished, and the pair lay spent in the grass in the early dawn, neither of them caring if a vehicle or tiger were to pass them, stopping by to take pictures then continuing onward. Of course, why a tiger would prefer to take pictures of two nude human beings rather than mauling them to death is a hard question to figure, but the pair continued to lay in their post sex daze, panting and sweating, and most of all, satisfied. Benny giggled. "Gives a whole new meaning to the term 'roughin' it' doesn't it?" Scotty answered with a humorous chuckle, nuzzling the crook of Benny's neck.

Benny thought sleep would be heavenly right about now.

"Ah, fuck..."

"What?"

"I'm bleeding again..."

…...

_The earth was eating her up alive and she couldn't move. There he stood before her, smiling like an old friend who had come home from a long absence. At his feet, that silver Timber, teeth bared and yellow eyes glaring; it growled and barked and growled again, snapping at her feet. "She's beautiful, no?" His voice was sincere and it tricked her into believing him, into following him. His eyes alighted with a familiar embrace and they mesmerized her._

_Benny shook her head frantically, tears brimming at her eyes as her hands sunk further into the earth. She desperately tried to crawl away, but his gaze had her body frozen. She couldn't move, not an inch, and the dirt and mud was up to her elbows now._

_"Don't be afraid of her," he said, smiling reassuringly. "Let her take you."_

_"No. Vaas please! She'll kill you!" She screamed and she could feel the dirt at her shoulders now. Her hair fell in her face wet with rain and clung to her skin with a suffocating grip. "She'll kill you!"_

_Vaas knelt down next to the animal, fingers brushing along through its ridged fur. He didn't falter when the wolf's jaws snapped forward, once again trying to grab at the struggling woman. Benny could feel the earth start to pull away. It loosened its hold on her and she swung her arms back, crawling away from that horrid duo. "Let her take you, like he took me," he said in a hushed town, laying a hand over his chest._

_Benny swallowed, crawling through the dirt like it was tar, every inch she made away from that man and that monstrous beast taking its toll on her body. She shook her head again, lips trembling. "What...no! No!" The wolf turned on the man beside her and latched onto his neck, fangs digging into the skin, crunching down. Benny cringed and closed her eyes, but she could hear the crunching, the squishing, the growling; she looked up. He was dead. Vaas was dead, blood pouring from his mangled throat, dead eyes staring into her with a blackness. "Vaas!" She screamed and screamed to the man, like vocals could bring him back to life._

_The tears streamed down her cheeks and clung to her hair. She crawled forward to him, hands shaking as she touched his face. **Please, no.** She whimpered and cried and lay her forehead against his. "Please don't leave me." It was then that his body started to move. But not as it should. There was a movement inside of him and Benny pulled her face away as it pushed up from inside. She backed away, watching with scared, wide eyes as the something inside of him pushed at his skin. She heard the bones in his torso crack and his chest expand, and his eyes still stared, still dead at her, and she panicked, pulling at her hair and scratching at her face._

_The something burst out of his body, tearing through the flesh and bones and claws dug into the dirt, growls emitting from its mouth. **No. No, no, no, no, no!** Benny backed away from the raging beast, it's fur standing on end and its dark yellow eyes boring into her. "'Give yourself to me' he said," came Vaas' voice. It sounded all around her but his body still lay lifeless behind the blood covered animal. "'And I will show you how it really feels, to be alive!'" The blood covered wolf attacked, and Benny ran._

…..

The last thing Benny expected to see when she woke up from an unmemorable dream, was Vaas' smirking face mere inches from her own saying 'Wakey, wakey, eggs and bakey'. Now, she didn't necessarily recognize the man right away. No, the first thing that came to her mind was 'Fuck, a guy trying to get lucky again!' and that was pretty much what sent Vaas stumbling backwards and into the cot that was once occupied by a Texan man. "Fuck!" was the first thing that pulled Benny back into the real world and she rubbed her eyes, blinking her world into focus.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry," she started, and the blurred images cleared to show her Vaas against the neighboring cot, holding his nose then pulling his hand away to inspect the possibility of blood. "Oh it's just you, well, that's okay then," Benny muttered, rubbing her eyes again and yawning.

"You usually this defensive in the mornings?" Vaas grumbled, wiping his nose on his hand once again to be sure she hadn't broken or bled it.

"Well it has been a rough few weeks, Vaasco," she said, rising up to her knees and stretching. She was still in the clothing from the previous night, but as she had said, it had been a rough few weeks. Changing one's clothes tended to be a chore when one must find the time and privacy to do it. Half the time she had persuaded Scotty to guard the door while she changed, usually making him stand with his back to her against the door. Benny shook her head. "Who ever the hell invented mornings needs to die," she yawned and stretched again, leaning her weight on her hands while she stretched her legs out behind her then bent her back, curled up, and collapsed back onto her cot. Benny was _not_ a morning person.

Vaas frowned, snickered, then rubbed his nose again. He should have expected the 'Vaasco' from her. "Well, rise and shine, Benny _._ We're leaving today, and if you want _that_ bed, you'll get the fuck out of this one." With this being said, he grabbed the frame of the cot and tipped it, woman and all.

Benny yelped in surprise, then grunted as she landed on her back on the wooden floor, cot on top of her. _Where was the camera for that? Another Jackass moment wasted. Way to go Vaasco._ Yes, even in her mind she was calling him by his full name _._ She glared at the pirate lord and grumbled more curses about mornings and men as she tipped her cot back over, running her fingers through the strands of her Mohawk and whirring her lips. "Did you know you mumble in your sleep?"

"What?" Benny asked, barely paying attention to the other pirate as she rubbed her back. She'd landed harshly on a misplaced beer bottle, unopened surprisingly...but she cursed her fellow pirates for always leaving their shit lie around.

"You mumble in your sleep," Vaas repeated, leaning against the adjacent wall and let his eyes wander over the interior of the shanty, though not necessarily noticing anything.

"Did I say anything?" Benny wasn't sure if she had been dreaming or not, and if she had, she certainly didn't remember.

Vaas frowned. "I said you mumble in your sleep. I didn't say you formed coherent fucking sentences," he said with a scoff and scratched at his chin.

"Huh," Benny muttered and rubbed her tired face, sitting down on her cot. Not a good idea.

"Hey, I said get the fuck up! Do you need me to stick hooks in your back or something and drag you around like a fuckin marionette?" Well the man was certainly more aggravated today than he had been yesterday and Benny quickly sprung to her feet.

"Okay, okay, I'm up, I'm up. Sheesh. Why don't you ride my ass a little harder?"

"Oh you'd like that, wouldn't you, _pera?"_ and he chuckled.

" _No_ _mames_ _,"_ Benny muttered and bent down to rummage through her duffle bag. By the feel of the air—hot and humid as ever—she decided against a t-shirt and thought the school colors tank top would suffice.

"Haha, _no mames!"_ Vaas was obviously entertained by the brunette's knowledge of Spanish slang and cursing. "You're funny you know that?"

"And you're annoying, now shoo," Benny growled, waving her fingers at him in a be gone manner.

"What, you shy?" Vaas asked with a rather devilish grin.

"No, but can't I have a little privacy, _por favor?"_ She glowered at the man, narrowing her eyes and promising a slow death to the man if he didn't leave her alone.

"How bout I just cover my eyes, hah?" He said, smiling rather stupidly as he covered his hands over his eyes. He continued to smile even when Benny muttered under her breath about how she was going to strangle him in his sleep if he didn't leave. She noticed the open door beside him, and pondered throwing him right out. "Promises, promises, Benny," he said, snickering.

That was it. Benny, not being much of a morning person, stormed towards the pirate lord, common sense, if she had any, flying out the window. She grabbed hold of the straps around the man's torso—they actually had some use after all—pulled him forward then shoved him back with an incredible strength that threw Vaas for a loop...and out the door. The last thing he expected was to be shoved, yes shoved, out the door and he stumbled back a few steps before gaining his footing back.

"What the fu-" Before he could even start a rant, the door was slammed forcefully in his face, and bolted. Benny leaned against the door, the metal surface almost cooling to her rapidly heating skin. Today was just too fucking hot. She sighed, rubbed her eyes once again, and started to pull off her t-shirt from the previous day. There was a bang on the door, probably from the irate pirate's fist, then a harder bang, this one most likely from a kick. Then a slew of Spanish cursing and ranting and then a familiar chuckling. "She shut the fucking door on me, can you fucking believe that shit?" Another tiny rant and Benny was sure she'd get the horns once she emerged from the shanty, but it all seemed irrelevant right now. She was tired, sweaty, and surprisingly...happy.

"Well she is a lady, Vaas," Benny heard Scotty's voice outside, no doubt followed by his ever famous playful smirk. "And a lady does like her privacy. 'Specially when she's gettin' dressed." There were a few pervasive puns thrown from Vaas before he turned his attention elsewhere. It was apparently breakfast time.

Benny sighed again, but this time pleasantly. Hearing Scotty's Southern drawl fuzzed her insides, even before their early morning shenanigans. What could she say? She had a weakness for Southern men. Especially blonde haired blue eyed well muscled ones. Benny exchanged her cargos for a pair of men's camouflage...the legs cut off at the knees of course, and she traded in the batman tee for the red tank top. Still though, the heat of the day, oh and the 100 percent humidity, nearly persuaded her to just walk around in the buff. Common sense though, as little as she had, told her otherwise.

Opening up the beer that was responsible for her now sore back and unbolting the door of the shanty, Benny was met with the burning rays of an angry sun and the sticky air of a vengeful mother earth. "Fuck," she muttered, wishing she had some sun screen, a sprinkler and/or pool, and a pair of sunglasses. She rubbed at her burning eyes before coming to a stop at the end of the deck. Glancing her eyes around the camp, she took a swig of the warm beer in her hand and wondered where that moody Hispanic man had fled to. Knowing her luck, he'd come up from behind and pounce on her like some kind of wild animal. _Sounds kind of fun._

_You're too tired for fun._

_Nobody's ever too tired for fun._

The heavy weight of a body pushing her onto the ground from behind alerted the woman of Vaas' location. It was now on top of her, his weight pushing her into the dirt and causing her beer to fly from her hands. Son of a bitch...

_I'm too tired for fun._

"Payback's a bitch huh? Thought you'd get the last laugh, didn't ya Benny," came the pirate lord's condescending voice followed by a lengthy laugh.

Benny sighed, raising her head up to lay her chin on her hands, glaring off to the distance. "Boy was I ever wrong," she said, sarcasm dripping from her tongue as she silently plotted ways to kill the pirate in his sleep.

"Hehe, yes you were." Vaas then proceeded to fiddle with the strands of her Mohawk, humming to himself as he pulled them over the other side of her head. Benny sighed audibly and rubbed her eyes again. "You should really learn not to fuck with me." There was a glimmer of a threat in the man's voice as he spoke, like he was holding off on completely disemboweling the woman beneath him. He did a good job of it.

"You should really learn to give a girl some privacy," Benny retorted. She hated mornings more than she hated Will Ferrell, and she absolutely _hated_ Will Ferrell. Seriously, she couldn't watch any of his movies, even if they starred other actors she adored. The man was just stupidity trying to pull himself off as humorous. She hated him with a passion.

Vaas tsked his tongue and continued to play with her hair, all the while still laying ontop of the woman, his weight crushing her lungs beneath her, though he seemed not to care. "Careful _hermana,_ you don't wanna get the horns now do ya?" He giggled in her ear and lay his arms down across her shoulders, making her work with an effort to stay up on her own elbows. "Then again, you probably do, hah? Yeah, you're a wild one aren't ya, Benny? It's okay, cuz you know what?"

Benny picked a speck of dirt out from under her fingernail, barely paying any mind to the man on her back. It was too early to be playing games... "What?" it was a bored response that Vaas laughed off and he ruffled the woman's hair.

"You can't survive the wilds of the jungle without being a little feral..." Benny admitted, he did sound a little less annoying when he said this. She enjoyed being called such things as wild and feral, that is if they were in a complimentary term...

"My, my, what have I missed here?" Benny's eyes shot instantly to the blonde Scotty as he crouched down beside her and Vaas, ever present smirk on his face.

"Oh thank God, Scotty kick his ass for me," Benny demanded, trying to roll the heavier pirate off of her but to no avail. Vaas only laughed once again at the brunette's efforts.

"Oh no, darlin', I'm stayin' out of that one," Scotty said with a chuckle, pulling out a pack of cigarettes from his back pocket and lighting one up.

" _Hermano,"_ Vaas whistled, " _aqui."_ He gestured towards the other man's cigarettes and, rolling his eyes, Scotty offered the pack out, allowing his leader to take one before lighting it for him. Why did everyone always want _his_ cigarettes? Were they all too lazy to get their own?

Vaas inhaled deeply before leaning back down over Benny's body, blowing the smoke by her ear. " _Quidas_ _?"_ Vaas offered the cigarette around to Benny, who, after inspection of yes indeed he was offering to share a cigarette, took a puff, feeling a little tingly when her lips touched Vaas' fingers softly as she inhaled from the filter. Just as suddenly as Vaas had tackled her, he had risen to stand above her, smirk playing at the corner of his lips as he tapped the cigarette filter with his thumb. Benny was thankful to have the man off of her...it was far too early to be playing games... "Benny," she heard Vaas whistle again. "Get your shit together, _amiga,_ we're leaving soon." He then turned to saunter over towards the other pirates, clapping a rather hungover Mango on the back, alerting the boy of his presence. The Filipino did not look in the mood to be even awake, let alone be bothered by Vaas.

Benny rose to her feet, brushing dirt off the front of her body and sighing, agitated by the man's vivacity suddenly. It would take another hour or so for Benny to reach that level of energy, not that she paid much mind...wait...did he say they were leaving soon?

"What do you mean we're leaving soon? What about eggs and bakey?" She asked incredulously towards the man. Vaas whirled around and waved his hands.

"What have I told you about being so lazy, huh?" he said, smiling and draggin from the cigarette again. "You shoulda gotten up with everyone else."

Benny rolled her eyes and groaned, rubbing the ever accumulating sweat from her forehead. It was too fucking hot and she was too fucking tired. Well, maybe she could grab some food to go. "Come on, let's go, _mi amiga!_ Get your shit. _Vamanos!"_ The man was maybe a little too eager to leave, Benny thought and she begrudgingly made her way back to the shanty, sour about having to leave so early, but also feeling a growing excitement at actually leaving here.

She was actually leaving! Leaving this shit poor tiny camp for bigger and better things! For her own fucking space! Benny was slowly becoming more energized, and a small shit eating grin grew on her face as she entered the building and made her way to her cot. No more sweaty, smelly, man stench, no more 'bottom of the barrel' food, no more killer turkeys, and best of all...no more grunt work! Yes, she was fucking free, or at least as free as a newcomer pirate moving up in the ranks could be, but she decided she'd work with it. Whatever Vaas needed her to do...fuck, she'd do it, if only to prove that she was capable, that she wasn't some rinky dink soldier girl. She was wild, ferocious, dangerous, and her fingers suddenly started to itch. Benny could feel the future kills within her grasp and the energy was rising inside of her as she shoved all of her belongings into her duffel bag. Her heart skipped when she pulled up the sheaths of throwing knives, as sharp and deadly as ever, and she smiled, fingering at the blades before attaching them to her body. Oh she was as excited as a school girl going to a boy band concert.

"Leavin' so soon, huh?" Scotty's voice sounded from the doorway and Benny turned to gaze at the Southern man leaning against the frame, thumbs hanging from his belt loops and legs crossed. His smirk was still in place, though it seemed different than usual...he inhaled slowly from the cigarette between his fingers, blowing the smoke out through his nose.

Benny managed a smile before nodding. "Yup. Finally huh? Movin' up in the world..." she offered him a thumbs up which he nodded to, but did not mimic.

Scotty scoffed and glanced down at the wooden floor, then back up to the woman as she fiddled with her knives. "You get a gun yet?" he asked, scratching at his chin and dragging from the cigarette again.

"Well, no, no not yet. Not that I've asked or anything..." No, Benny had not been issued a gun...still! She wasn't quite sure as to the reason behind this...maybe the pirates though her too unstable to handle one, after all she had killed two of their men without the use of a firearm; imagine what she could do _with_ a gun.

Scotty nodded and pushed himself away from the door frame, flicking his cigarette outside and nodding for Benny to come over. Benny obliged, slinging her now full bag over her shoulder. She wondered if Scotty had actually gained some kind of feelings for her after their little romp in the jungle early that morning. If he had, he was completely crazy, for only crazy people would think of falling for her. At least, that's what she had gathered over the years. No normal person like Scotty would in their right mind consider anything past a sexacape, or even a short lived romance with the unpredictable woman. But, she had to admit, the sex was good...

Scotty pulled his trusty shotgun out from under his cot where he had just recently stored the thing not long after coming back from watch, and handed it out towards the woman. Benny rose a brow, pursing her lips and tilting her head. "What...dude..."

"She's yours," the blonde said with a smile, offering out the gun. Benny hesitated before taking hold of the shotgun, feeling the heavy weight of the metal in her hands. She grasped it strongly, and Scotty pulled it towards him, woman and all, until the gun was pressed against his chest with Benny's hands. She chanced a glance up at the blonde man as he smiled down at her, blue eyes soft and mischevious. Her eyes wandered from his face to his broad shoulders and she bit her lip when she noticed the bite marks she had left on his skin. Oops. No doubt her comrades had seen those... "Promise you won't forget me," he said, bending down until his forehead brushed her own.

Benny smiled back, chuckling. "I'll try not to," she joked, meeting blue eyes with green. The man let out a small laugh through his nose and kissed the top of her head.

"You be careful now, darlin'. Vaas won't hesitate to gut ya should ya piss him off wrong."

"I can take care of myself, thank you honey," and she pulled away from the man, laying the shotgun over her shoulder and offering him a playful smile before exiting the shanty, the memories of their early morning running around inside her head.

Vaas was leaning casually against the truck, Vinnie already perched in the passenger seat, tongue hanging out of his mouth as he panted from the day's heat. Benny watched Vaas roll his head around his shoulders and cracking the knuckles on one hand with the fingers of his other. She noticed he still wore his left hand in a bandage and wondered just what the hell he kept doing to it that he had to keep wrapping it up. Maybe he was emo and enjoyed cutting his hand up. Benny decided she would ask him, after all, she was curious. She approached the man, tossing her duffel bag and Scotty's, no her's, shotgun into the back of the truck, flipping her hair to the side once again and smiling up to the pirate lord. Her mood was quickly rising. She opened her mouth to inquire about the man's bandage before he stopped her.

"Did you brush your teeth?" he asked, not even making eye contact with her as he bit at the nail of a finger and spit it to the ground, going on to the next one.

Well that question was certainly unexpected. What? "What?"

"Did you brush your teeth?" he repeated, finally bringing his eyes up to meet hers, if only for a second before going back to his self inflicting manicure. "If you didn't, you better go do it, I don't need to deal with you complaining about cavities and I don't wanna be smelling your rotten breath..." he sniffed at her mouth and Benny pulled her head back, furrowing her brows and pushing away his face with her hand. "Go brush your teeth," he said, more peeved this time, and he went back to biting his nails off.

Benny was flabbergasted. Seriously? Seriously! Why was Vaas so worried about her dental hygiene all of a sudden? And why the hell did she have to brush her teeth _right now?_ Why brush her teeth in the morning at all when she'd just be smoking and eating all day; it seemed pointless really. She always brushed her teeth at night though...

"The fuck are you waiting for? What, do I have to do it for you? Cuz if you want me to play DDS I'll just pull out all your fucking teeth so you don't gotta worry about it." That was enough to convince the brunette that there was no arguing with the slowly angering man, and she turned swiftly, letting her hair flick the man's nose as she did so, opening up and digging through her duffel for her toothbrush and heading back to the shanty, grumbling about Vaas' strange need for her to keep her teeth clean.

Scotty lounged in his cot, sleep tugging at his eyelids as the brunette woman stormed in with a toothbrush, grumbling nonsense about their leader before planting herself on the cot next to his, sighing. "What's the matter darlin'? Vaas change his mind all of a sudden?" He was too tired to make direct eye contact with the woman and she grumbled a response before grabbing one of Scotty's beers under his cot, opened it, swigged, then grabbed his toothpaste and went about brushing her teeth.

"Whats on the agenda today, Vaas?" Mango asked, rubbing his face with his hands and sighing behind his fingers. He hated hangovers, and always regretted drinking the morning after. His alcohol tolerence was sad, but he just wanted to keep up with everyone else. Bad idea...

Vaas spit out another piece of fingernail. "Hitting up Cliffside, then we gotta head on over to Tequila...we'll be home by morning, don't worry about it."

Mango worried. Vaas did his best to avoid the roads that led to the Rakyat's temple, but they would still be traveling dangerously close to the native's safe haven, and Mango didn't like mingling with those people. Past encounters discouraging him from ever again calling a Rakyat warrior a 'sperm dumpster'. Mango could see the tension in his leader's shoulders, and the distaste in his eyes as he bit off the last nail and spit it to the ground, fiddling his fingers together in a rather harsh manner. The pirate lord hated traveling anywhere near that temple, and Mango guessed for good reason. After all, his crazed sister did hold a residence there...

"Can we stop in Badtown?" Mango asked, wringing his hands together nervously. He didn't like having to ask his leader questions that didn't pertain to their business, and Vaas didn't like answering them.

"Fuck for?" Vaas responded, grinding his teeth, that is until he saw the figure of Benny appear from the shanty doorway, running the toothbrush over her teeth, glaring at the man, and sticking up her middle finger before turning back inside. Vaas snorted, amused, and his mood slightly grew.

Mango noticed, and continued. "I need to get batteries..." he said warily, avoiding eye contact with the intimidating man as he turned to eye the young Filipino.

Vaas scoffed and scratched his jaw. "Whatever _amigo."_ He said it with a smirk so Mango took that as a yes and sighed inwardly, once again running his hands over his face.

Scotty watched with slight interest the woman pacing around the shanty, grumbling still about the Mohawk'd man outside, and still while brushing her teeth, making her speech near incomprehensible. Scotty smirked and lay an arm behind his head, scratching lazily at his stomach and yawned. "I'm sure brushin' your teeth'll be the least of his worries once he gets ya settled," he said tiredly, Southern drawl pushing his words together the more weary he became.

"That's not the point," Benny said, following up with taking a swig of beer, swirling it around in her mouth and spitting it and the toothpaste out the window as she lifted the shutter. She then took another mouthful of the beer, swirled it around again, and spit.

Scotty furrowed his brow. "Did you just rinse your mouth with beer?"

"I mean, who the hell does he think he is, my father?" Benny growled, stuffing her toothbrush into the pocket of her camo pants.

"Darlin'-"

"I can understand telling me to, I don't know, kill someone, or cut them up, or to even do a little heavy lifting.." Benny continued, waving her hands in front of her, fists clenching and unclenching, fingers flexing out and back in. "But what the fuck does he care if I brush my teeth or not? Hah? I mean, I'm not kissing the fucker or anything. Why the fuck does he give such a huge shit?"

"Darlin'-"

"I can take orders fine, but when they're piddly little shit like that, dude, I just," she grabbed a handful of her Mohawk and pulled, growling in agitation. "I don't fucking like being told what to do. I fucking hate it! Who the hell does he think he is-"

Benny was halted in her rant when a pair of strong hands wrapped around her wrists and pulled her forward. "Darlin'! Shut the fuck up," Scotty said, standing up in front of the woman, still holding onto her wrists. "He just told you to brush your teeth, not take your top off." He followed this up with a low laugh.

Benny rolled her eyes, still fuming. "Yeah well, that'll be the next thing..."

"Well, that's what you get for being such an attractive woman," Scotty said with a suggestive smirk and Benny scoffed. "Just try not to kill him, huh?"

Benny shook her head, eyes glaring in every direction the Texan wasn't. "I thought you didn't like him," she huffed, pulling her wrists from the Texan's grasp.

"Well I'll admit, I'm not about to put myself in front of a bullet for him... But I know he'll give you every reason in the world to shoot him in the head. Just try to refrain from doin' so okay?"

The brunette snorted and crossed her arms, glaring at the wall behind Scotty. "I'm not making any promises." She finally brought her eyes to Scotty's and managed a tiny smile when he offered her one. She couldn't help it, he was cute. The woman flinched when she heard her name being called from outside the shanty and she growled.

"Just do what he says okay? He's a crazy motherfucker, and it don't take much to make him lash out at anyone standing near him." Benny rolled her eyes again, ignoring Scotty's fingers playing with the curled ends of her hair.

"Whatevs," she murmured, laying her hands at her hips and huffing to the corner.

"There's a good girl," Scotty said with a smile and slid his fingers from her hair to run his thumb over a tiny scar on her chin. The voice of their leader rang in their ears as he called out Benny's name again, and Scotty smirked. "I reckon I'll see ya around." And he removed his thumb from her chin before turning around and reclaiming his previous position on his cot.

"I reckon you will," Benny muttered, picking up her beer bottle and heading to the door. She paused at the entrance and tilted her head back to the Southern man sprawled out in his bed. "I think I'll miss you most of all, Scarecrow." She offered him a smile, which he gladly returned and she exited the building, happy that she had someone to count on, and aggravated that she also had somebody to order her around like a child.

….

Benny played with the food on her plate as they drove, picking around the rice and pork before grabbing a pinch and stuffing it into her mouth, chewing the meat slowly as she let the wind flip her Mohawk about. She couldn't wait for her hair to grow back. Mango sat in the back of the truck, playing with the magazine of his gun, pushing it in and out of the weapon in an attempts to amuse himself. Vinnie the dog sat between Vaas and Benny, tongue laying lazily out of his mouth as he smiled a doggy smile in the car ride. Vaas' right hand clutched the wheel tightly, his left arm hanging out the side of the truck, and his stare emotionless as he kept his eyes on the road ahead. The CD that played was indeed Skrillex, with a couple of random Shakira songs, of which, Benny wasn't overly fond of. Voicing her opinion though only offered a few growls from the pirate lord and she took to ignoring him for the most part. _Why is it every Hispanic person I meet so defensive over Shakira?_

Vinnie whined and Benny offered the dog another chunk of meat which the animal took happily and she smiled, ruffling his ears and patting his face. "So are you emo or something?" Benny asked to the Hispanic man and he eyed her curiously.

"What?" Vaas didn't necessarily sound angry, but the mood was hidden there somewhere.

"I mean, how long you gonna wear that bandage for hah?" Benny asked, taking another bite of her food to go Timmy had given her. The goodbyes to the men around the camp weren't exactly Wizard of Oz-esque. If anything it was a simple wave of the hand or nod of the head. Pierre seemed happy to be rid of the woman. Manny and Luis showed no real care for her departure and her Molotov Man just grabbed her ass when she offered out a hug. Well, it all counted as a hug. Timmy's farewell was a tad surprising, at least to the other pirates. When Benny came up to the giant man she offered him a wide toothy smile and spread her arms out, offering him a 'bring it in, dude' at which, Timmy scoffed, then brought the woman into a suffocating bear hug. Benny's ego since then had risen again and she was in a much better mood.

Vaas scoffed, glancing down at his bandaged hand and back to the woman before turning his eyes back to the road. "The fuck do you care?"

"I was just wondering dude," Benny said with a shrug of her shoulders and adjusted herself in her seat. "I mean, I'm not gonna judge your emo fights with yourself..."

"Funny," Vaas said with a smirk. "That's right, I got into an emo fight. Now you know. Happy?" He offered the woman a sarcastic grin and she smiled before laughing.

"Totes dude. I'm glad you told me. My life is now complete." And she let the dog finish off the last pieces of food on her plate.

"Vinnie, get in the back," Vaas growled, motioning for the pitbull to move himself to the back of the truck. The dog whined and Vaas gave a rather intimidating glare and a whistle, pointing his thumb to the bed of the truck and the dog's ears drooped as it jumped from the seat to the back of the truck, laying in the bed and letting his head fall onto Mango's lap. The Filipino took pity on the canine and stroked his head. "Fuckin' dog," Vaas said, shaking his head.

"I think he's sweet," Benny mentioned, smiling and drinking from her beer. Vaas didn't seem too pleased when he smelled her breath and realized she had rinsed with beer, telling her that it made little to no sense. She told him what was done was done, and she wasn't about to go back and floss at his whim, at which, he left it at that; he was eager to leave.

"He's a fucking pussy around you," Vaas said with a chuckle. "I tell him to 'sic 'em' and he goes after the fucker. You though, what the fuck did you do to my dog?"

"I'm no enemy and he knows that?" Benny asked with a shrug, bringing her feet to rest on the dash. "I don't know. Dogs are smart. They got that whole sixth sense thing going on. Haven't you ever seen Homeward Bound?"

Vaas smiled and shook his head. "No, I haven't seen Homeward Bound. The fuck is that movie?"

"Oh my God, it's so sad. Well, it's happy, but it just makes you wanna cry. These two dogs and a cat have to find their way back home through the forest and stuff and they go on this big adventure fighting bears and mountain lions and crabs and trains just so they can make it home to the kids who own them. When I first saw that movie I bawled my fucking eyes out, man. It was so fucking sad."

Vaas' laugh was nothing if not condescending. "You fucking serious? You fucking cry during movies?" He laughed again, heartily and gazed humorously at the woman.

"Dude I was like, ten the last time I saw that movie. It's old as fuck."

"That was a good movie," Mango piped up from the back of the truck. "My mom cried when Shadow got stuck in that hole and told Sassy and Chance to leave him cuz he was too old and couldn't make it."

"Oh my God, that like, broke my heart," Benny said, putting her hand over her mouth with the memory of that poor old Golden Retriever. "And when he showed up at the end of the movie and he reunites with Peter and the Homeward Bound music plays and...oh my freakin' God."

"Yeah my mom bawled so much at that part."

"Christ you guys are nothing but a couple of pussies," Vaas mentioned with a laugh. "Crying over fucking movies and shit..."

"Hey, you would too if you saw it," Benny countered, drinking from her beer again.

"I saw plenty today thank you very much," he said with a tilt of his head.

"The fuck is that supposed to mean?"

"I mean, I see you got yourself a boyfriend, didn't ya Benny?"

"What?" Benny asked incredulously. Was Vaas really bringing up Scotty? Seriously? First off, why the fuck did it matter to him what her and Scotty did? Second off, how did that topic pertain to heart warming movies?

"Come on, _hermana._ Guy doesn't get bites and scratches like that from tangling with tigers, now do they?" He said it mockingly, chuckling. "Got yourself a little _novio_ didn't ya? Hah? You guys fuck? _Tu chupa-"_

"Okay, first of all Vaas, the fuck does it matter to you hah?" Benny exclaimed, now aggravated by the man beside her. "What? You jealous or something?"

Vaas scoffed and rolled his head back, laughing. "What! Fucking jealous, you serious? I'm not some fucking-"

"You jealous Vaasy-poo?" Benny said, sticking her lips out in a pouting manner and raising her eyebrows at the man, obviously making fun of his banter. "Lil Vaasy-poo jealous of Scotty and his dick hah? Poor, poor lil Vaasy-"

"Hey!" Well she had certainly done it. Mango shrunk down in his seat, knowing exactly what this was going to escalate into. "You keep calling me that, and I'll fucking put a bullet through your head!"

Benny seemed unfazed by the other pirate's threat. "Oh no! Not a bullet. Well go on then, Vaasy-poo-"

The pirate lord wasted no time in pulling the gun from its holster and pointing it to the mocking woman, who, for the most part, wasn't particularly concerned. "Go ahead!" he shouted, face contorted in rage. "Go a-fucking-head! Say it one more fucking time! Fucking say it!"

Benny scoffed and eyed the gun pointed at her. "You gonna fucking shoot me?" she said, raising her eyebrows expectantly. "You gonna fucking do it? Do it then. Come on! Fucking shoot me!"

"You think I'm fucking kidding around, huh? You think I won't fucking do it?"

"Why you holding back hah? You're gonna be pulling guns out you better be prepared to shoot someone with it-"

"Shut the fuck up! Just shut the fuck up! I would prefer not to kill you, seeing as how you've actually made it this far..."

"Would you prefer me to drive, then?" Benny asked, her mood not as aggravating as Vaas', for she said this with a smile.

"What—no!"

"Then would you?"

Vaas turned his head to see a herd of wild boars wandering across the road and rooting the ground with their tusks. He swerved the truck, knowing that hitting one of those large pigs might cause unneeded damage to his engine. In swerving he missed a good portion of the boars, but caught one with the front tire, followed by the back, and the vehicle bounced and jerked sending its occupants grasping for anything they could to hold onto. Vinnie slid from one side of the truck bed to the other before slamming against the tailgate with an audible yelp, Mango grabbed the back of Vaas' seat, Vaas grabbed the wheel, and Benny—who was rather disappointed when her beer flew from her hand and out of the vehicle—jolted from her seated position due to the truck's jostling around, was flung against the pirate lord, where she grabbed securely to his waist, waiting for Vaas to either regain control of the vehicle, or stop it.

He regained control, sighing and then whooping and laughing. "Well that was a close one, hah?" He said, still laughing as he let his grip loosen a bit on the wheel. He eyed the brunette woman still death gripping his waist and chuckled. "So uh...while you're down there..."

Benny quickly composed herself, sitting back up in her seat in a lightening fast motion and tucking strands of her Mohawk behind her ear. She sighed, smirked, and shook her head. "Fucking close, yeah. Phew...hehe..." she eyed the man beside her and giggled. "Wanna do it again? But this time, let's not hit any innocent little piggies? Let's hit a bear!"

Vaas, seeming to forget their previous dispute, laughed and hung his head back as he continued to drive, patting Mango's arm behind him to alert the boy that the crisis was over. "Haha, maybe another time, _mi amiga_ _,_ " he said, smiling. He noted the clanging sound in the engine and cursed under his breath. He hoped they could at least make it to the next outpost before the truck completely broke down. "Mango, whatever happened to fixing this fucking thing?"

"Well, I told you there wasn't much more I could do," Mango said, adjusting himself in his seat once again, petting Vaas' dog reassuringly as the pitbull made it's way across the truck bed skittishly. "I said be careful driving it and it'd be fine, just don't go over any big bumps or anything..." he glared at the back of the older man's head, thinking to himself that no car could ever survive under the pirate lord's driving habits.

"Oops," Vaas muttered, fiddling with the CD player. The device had come loose and the music had ceased playing. He banged on it a few times before punching it back into place, a song blaring to life as he did so. "There we go. Good as new."

"Dude, I freaking love this song," Benny exclaimed, smiling widely as she turned up the volume. "I always smoked weed every time I listened to this song." She started to bob her head to the music and sing along to the words. Vaas recognized the song, Make it Bun Dem, a lovely little piece from Skrillex and Damien Marley and he smiled at the woman, chuckling as she bounced her hands around like some wannabe rapper as she sang along to the techno-reggae sounding music.

"We mash up the place, turn up the bass, and make them all have fun, ah we-a blaze the fire, make it bun dem! We mash up the place, turn up the bass, and make some sound why run, and we will end your week, just like a Sunday! Whoo!" Benny whooped and rose her hands, sending an encouraging smile Vaas' way. Well, how could he resist that invitation.

Mango, an avid music lover of all genres and artists, knew good voices when he heard them. And Benny's and Vaas'...were not good. In the slightest. Even if the artists weren't exactly _singing,_ still, the pair in front were ruining the music. He grumbled under his breath, even though he could have easily gotten away with grumbling aloud seeing as how Benny had cranked the music so loud that he was sure half the island could probably hear it. The Filipino rolled his eyes, wondering just what made two people going from gun fighting to singing along to music together...a herd of boars apparently. He sat back in his seat and crossed his arms, sighing up to the sky. Please God, make this insanity stop, my ears can't take much more of this.

Benny rose from her seat, grabbing onto the top of the trucks windshield and standing on her seat, smiling widely at the road ahead of them, bobbing her head and whooping and hollering and again singing to the music. Mango's eyes widened. That bitch was fucking crazy. Vaas chuckled at the woman, glancing from the road up to the standing woman above him as the drive blew her hair back behind her head, exposing the growing hair on the left side of her head. She hung her head back, leaning back and holding onto the truck with both hands, her body hanging in the wind. Said wind whipped around her tank top and blew up the hem enough for the scar to be exposed and Vaas wondered to himself, she probably told Scotty how she really got that thing. His mood dropped...no he wasn't jealous. Vaas doesn't get jealous...fuck you, I don't get fucking jealous.

"Ah shit!" Mango's cry of alarm alerted both the pirates in front, but before either of them could quite see what the boy was 'ah shitting' about, a heavy force shoved into their vehicle, sending the truck skidding along the road before physics took hold and rolled the thing onto its side, flinging it's unseatbelted occupants out as it slid onto the upcoming bridge, the front bumper of the truck taking out a hefty amount of wooden railing as it did. And then physics didn't seem to apply after that.

Mango and Vaas were sent sailing from the truck into the river below the bridge, whereas Benny was flung the opposite way and onto the road. Vinnie fell from the back of the truck before it rolled onto the bridge, yelping and whining.

Vaas emerged from the water seconds before Mango, rubbing his eyes of the river water and growling loudly. "What the fuck was that!" he shouted, looking up to the bridge as he tread in the deep water, growling again and flipping his gaze around his surroundings. There was Mango, but where was Benny and Vinnie.

"A car dude," Mango sputtered, trying desperately to keep his head above the water. "It came out of nowhere."

"Who was it!" Vaas demanded, still trying to assess the situation. He had not jotted down a swimming trip for the day in his daily planner. Mango hesitated, glancing around the shorelines to see which ones were the closest to swim to. He looked up to the bridge, glancing around quickly to see if he could find the culprits responsible for sending them off the road. He was very appreciative that none of them had been seriously injured in the crash. Miraculous he thought, though there was a nagging pain in his wrist.

"I don't know...I think it was the Rakyat...I can't be sure." He sputtered again as more water flooded into his mouth. He didn't much like the taste of river water. "All I saw was a jeep and then, BAM!" He slammed a hand down on the surface of the water to express his experience, but Vaas paid little mind to his gestures.

"Motherfuckers! I'm gonna fucking kill every single fucking one of them..." he started to make his way to shore, the top of his Mohawk quickly drooping from the amounts of water. Mango glanced behind them, then started to follow, then glanced back again.

"Oh shit...Vaas, croc!" He shouted, making a quick beeline to the shore.

Vaas turned his head in time to see the massive reptile make its way to the river, quickly submerging itself up to its head and racing hungrily to the two men. "Fuck!" This was not a good day, not a good day at all. "Fuckin swim, Mango! Get to the rocks..." Ahead of them, there was a rock outcropping, which they could easily climb up and make their way back to the road from. The crocodile would find running prey too much of a hassle to deal with and would give up should the humans reach the rocks. Should they...

Mango's mind was racing, his heart was pounding, and his arms and legs worked a furious rhythm as he swam his hardest to the rocks. He was terrified. He didn't want to be croc food! He sputtered and coughed every time more water found its way into his mouth and down to his lungs and he swam harder. Vaas' mood was anything but terrified. He was fucking pissed! He grumbled and growled the further he swam, making silent threats to skin that crocodile alive should it try to attack him, and then he would go after their assaulter...

Mango reached the rocks first, but they were high and slippery and he whined when he couldn't get a good grip on the surfaces. "Fuck," he muttered, trying once again to haul himself up. A hand wrapped itself around the boy's holster and he gasped as he felt himself being pushed up and out of the water. The last person he expected help from was Vaas. The Filipino pulled himself up, scraping his arms on the rough surface of the rocks before rolling onto his back, breathing heavily.

"Come on, _hermano,_ let's go!" he heard Vaas shout below him and quickly rolled onto his stomach to reach his arm out to the man as he struggled up the rocks. He was much stronger than Mango and therefore had no trouble in hauling himself up half the way, but a little help wouldn't hurt, so he had called upon the boy pirate. He reached up to Mango's outstretched hand, and then the smaller pirate cried out. "Vaas!" Mango watched helplessly as Vaas was pulled back into the water, his body disappearing under the surface followed by the scales of the prehistoric beast. "Vaas!" Mango cried again, watching as the crocodile started a death roll, Vaas' arms wrapped around the animal's body. "Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck..." he grabbed at his hair and panicked. What the fuck was he supposed to do? He didn't have his gun, he couldn't shoot the crocodile, and he wasn't about to pull something Ramob-esque and jump in and start fighting the thing. No, that wouldn't go over too well. Mango turned his head quickly when he heard footsteps behind him. Before he could react, the Rakyat warrior sent the butt of his gun into the boy's skull, and his vision blurred and hazed before unconsciousness took its hold.

Benny wasn't any better off than the boys. She ran. As soon as she had been flung from the vehicle and saw the native men with actual guns and realizing she couldn't get to her shotgun...she bolted. She would have loved to stay and help Vaas and Mango out, had she known where they were. She didn't witness them fly into the river, but she did witness a warrior point an assault rifle at her and begin to fire, in which case, she fucking ran out of there.

The woman's heart beat against her chest and the hot humid air clung to her body as she ran, accumulating hefty amounts of sweat on her skin. Gun shots sounded behind her and she felt the bullets whiz past her and she yelped when one skimmed across her arm, forcing her into a stumble before she tripped and landed in the jungle earth. She whimpered and held a hand tightly to the bleeding wound on her left bicep. The bullet hadn't gone into the skin, but it had certainly damaged it. She rose back up to her feet, ready to run again when something horrific, terrible, and monster movie worthy appeared before her.

"Ah fuck," she muttered, sighing and pulling a knife out, ready to take on that zombified bird before her. "Come on motherfucker...come here. Come get me. I'm fucking sick and tired of you you ….freakin...bird!"

The Cassowary squawked, bobbed its head, then screeched and turned and ran. Benny curled her lip and furrowed her brow. "What? Hey! Get the fuck back here!" Benny heard the crunching of jungle foliage behind her and she quickly whipped around to see one of the Rakyat before her, rifle at his shoulder as he pointed it straight to her head. "Oh what do you want?" She said rudely, snorting at the man. She rose the knife, wondering when these guys started to use guns. Maybe they liked to conserve ammo?

The tattooed man spoke, but it was useless for Benny to try to decipher. After all, she spoke English and broken Spanish...not this...whatever language this guy was speaking. He lifted the gun to her and she shook her head, raising her eyebrows and shrugging her shoulders. She didn't know what he wanted. "Get to your knees!" he screamed to her. Ah, so that's what he wanted.

"See, why didn't you just say so? Jebus," she sighed and looked around her. She would have denied the warrior the pleasure of seeing her drop to her knees, but when another three Rakyat emerged from the trees, guns thrust up and ready to fire, Benny saw only one option.

"So four Rakyat guys walk into a bar-" she felt the hard knock of a gun against the back of her skull and she groaned before dropping to the ground, moaning in discomfort as she felt her hands pulled behind her back. Fuck.

Now Vinnie, Vinnie could have stuck around to do his best as an attack dog and could have maybe even taken down one or two of the tattooed men. But when faced with many an enemy and all of your own comrades are thrown to the wind with no weapons to fight against gunned Rakyat warriors, the smart thing to do, would be to run. And that's just what Vinnie did. He ran. As fast and as far as his doggy legs could take him. The well trained dog that he was, he knew exactly what to do and where to go in this situation. At least, let's hope he knows...

XXX


	9. Monster--Boondox

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Scotty's PTSD dreams and Benny...being Benny. Oh yeah and if you spot the quote, kudos for you and tons of coolios ;)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the part of the story where focus starts to shift away from Benny and towards the others. After this point it comes to the multi-OC aspect of the fic. Next chapter...that one's a bit of a favorite.

Strange Waters

Chapter 9

Monster-Boondox

XXX

_He slammed his fist into the man's jaw a fifth time, hearing teeth crack and watching blood spew from the Afghani's mouth. His knuckles were stained with the red substance; some of it had sprayed onto his face and into his hair, the short blonde strands sticking together from the blood. The_ _Afghani still managed a chuckle through bloody teeth and spewed another foreign insult the American's way. "You killed them!" Scotty shouted, fingers latched around the other man's throat as he held him against the wall. "You slaughtered them in cold blood!" He threw another punch and the Afghani was forced to take it, his hands bound behind his back tightly. He chuckled again at the blonde._

_"Is that what you call it?" he said in English, a humor in his dark eyes. "Slaughter?" Another punch, then another, then he was thrown to the floor, the blonde soldier straddling his chest._

_"That's exactly what I call it," Scotty growled, teeth bared as he sent a flurry of punches to the Afghani's face, blood splattering his clothes and face. When the dark man's face was disfigured with lumps and red liquid, Scotty stopped, his breathing heavy as he loomed over his prisoner, blue eyes darkening with rage. "Your fucking god tell you to kill innocent women and children?"His glare was hard, his face contorted in fury. "Hah!? You think he justifies you!" He punched the man's jaw again, hearing a tooth dislodged from his gums._

_The Afghani still smiled through red teeth and split lips, laughing up at his assailant. "You Americans," he spat, blood spilling from his mouth as he spoke. "Think of yourselves as righteous and good, butting into others' affairs...no wonder the world hates you." He laughed again, a lengthy hysterical laugh that surged an animalistic rage through the soldier and he pulled a pistol on the beaten man, digging the barrel into his temple. Still the darker man laughed. "Do it," he goaded, smiling still, dark eyes boring humorously into the blackening blue of the man above him. "Pull the trigger. Do it, and I'm sure your own God will justify your actions. If he doesn't, there's no doubt your President will." Scotty pulled the gun back to cock it, and held it once again to the other's head._

_"Don't think I won't! Don't think I'm some pitiful hero here to show you mercy! I will fucking do it! I will kill you, just like you killed them!" His finger vibrated against the trigger, his lips trembled, and his shoulders shook with the flurry of emotions passing through his being. "I am NOT merciful!"_

_The Afghani continued to laugh, his body jittering with each chuckle and Scotty felt his grip tighten on the gun. "What will you do when you kill me? Go home, feel proud of yourself, thinking you did the right thing," another chuckle, "while your brother is in your home, fucking your wife on your kitchen table!"_

_Scotty screamed, his emotions overpowering his better judgment, and he slammed the butt of the gun into the man's forehead. He did it again and again and again, until blood spilled from the open wounds, coating the stone floor, his hands, his face, his gun...Scotty's body shook fervently, his anger washing over his body in a flood of blood. His blue eyes glared down, to the dead man below him, his shaking hand, and the loaded gun. He had done this. He had done this. He had killed this man. It felt good; he had done it with just cause. This man would never hurt anyone ever again. He would never put another family through the fury of hell... And then another sensation washed through him; a sudden realization of what he had done. He had done this. He had done this. He had killed this man. It was no longer enough to satisfy him. He needed to find the others. He needed to kill them all..._

_"Scotty! Scotty! We gotta go!"_

_The screeching of the metal door attacked his eardrums, and he screamed again, huddling over the dead man's corpse, hugging himself, his gun still clutched tightly in his hand as he started to rock back and forth. Something was moving inside of him, he could feel it. It clawed at his heart, grabbing it with spindly fingers and squeezing with all its might._

_"Scotty! Come on man! We gotta go now! NOW!"_

_The scream that escaped him echoed through the room, bouncing off the stone walls and engulfing the room in a murderous touch. Tears spilled from his eyes, losing themselves in the fresh blood and sweat on his cheeks as his body continued to rack and the desert sun flew in through the open door and wrapped itself around his body, enveloping him in its warm rays as he closed his eyes tightly, blinded._

_Bright blue opened to another world. A world far from the gun shots, explosions, and bloodshed. A familiar world. He was home. He knew this; the two story house before him welcoming and subtle. He breathed and smiled. "I'm home..." eyes scanned the mowed lawn, the tire swing hanging from the tall Oak in his front yard, the horses in the pasture whinnied and neighed and their hooves thudded on the green earth. "I'm home," he repeated, a sense of peace wrapping around his body as he smiled, relieved. "It's over..." he ran to the front steps, jumping over them and onto the porch, past the lounge swing and he burst through the door, wide smile gracing his features as he walked through the house. The peace was in the air, warm light embracing his home's interior. Scotty's fingers traced over pictures hung on the wall; two small blonde haired blue eyed girls, his daughters, his life._

_"Sam! Sam!" He yelled through the house, skipping around the furniture in search for the woman he dedicated his life to, whom he had taken to the prom, who had shown up to all his football games, who said 'I do' with a pleasant truthfulness in her voice he could have never doubted. "Sam, hun, I'm back! Sam!" He ran past the stairway, hopping over misplaced Barbie dolls and plastic tea cups. "Sam?" There was a sudden emptiness in the air, and his smile was quickly replaced by a frown as he approached the door. Its once light blue color paint was slowly cracking and decaying. "Sam?" There was a worry in his voice...what was wrong? Something had happened. "Hun?" His voice cracked as he placed a shaky hand on the decaying door, pushing it in slowly, his breathing stopping slightly and a lump formed in his throat._

_The sight before him had him frozen, hand stuck to the door as he stood, his heart pounding against his chest, ready to burst right out. His breathing caught at the sight; his wife, the woman he swore his life to, in sickness and in health, to death do they part, was on her back on their kitchen table, his Cowboys jersey that she loved to wear around the house was hiked up to her neck, and her bare legs wrapped around the shirtless body above her. Scotty shook his head furiously, trying to back away from the scene, but his feet remained planted, and his heart wrenched and shook. "Sam..."_

_The blonde head of his brother was buried in his wife's neck, his fingers squeezing her thighs and causing moans to escape her lips as she raked her nails through his short hair. "Shaun?" Scotty squeaked, gulping down the lump and finally remembering to breathe. His breaths were short though, and ragged, like his lungs were being squeezed in a vice. The hazel eyes of his brother looked upon him with humor, as did the light brown of his wife. "Wha-what are you doin'?" his voice was a whisper and his breathing hitched, sobs finding themselves in his throat._

_"What does it look like," came a condescending voice that he hadn't ever heard his younger sibling use. "I'm fuckin' your wife," he said with a toothy smile and continued to pound into the woman below him, her pleasurable moans echoing throughout the room and screeching against Scotty's eardrums like nails on a chalkboard._

_Rage filled the man, and he saw nothing but red, nothing but the blood that splattered on the walls and floor following the loud bang of a shotgun. His hands trembled with the heavy weapon in his grasp, foggy eyes catching on the blood and brain matter splattered on the wall, and his wife, Sam, screamed, leaning over the dead body of his brother and pulling at her hair. "What have you done, Scotty? What have you done!" She leaped at him, pinning him against the wall and pounding on his chest with closed fists. "You're a monster," she seethed, glaring at the man before her with a new found hatred._

_Scotty found his hands around her throat, squeezing the air out from her lungs as she kicked and clawed at him. His anger rose, that wrenching at his heart tearing at the organ and he felt it collapse inside of him, leaving nothing but an empty, black, inky thing in its wake. "Why? Why!" he screamed, tightening his grip and pushing heavily on her jugular, watching as her eyes began to roll back into her head. "Why! Why did you do it! Why!"_

"Dude I just wanted some smokes!" Scotty's eyes blinked, the world around him slowly melting into a place of another familiarity. The outpost he shared with half a dozen other men, and his eyes shot around its interior, the tin roof and walls and wooden windows, the metal framed cots strewn around the room, personal belongings piled under them, and Lupo, cowering under his grasp on the floor. "Come on, brother..." he wheezed, prying at the blonde man's hands with desperate fingers.

Scotty shook his head, getting his bearings, and let go, realizing he was no longer where he had thought he'd been. Lupo took in lungfuls of air, coughing and rubbing his sore throat as the blonde man pulled off of him, leaning back against his cot and running his hands through his hair, sighing. "You have that crazy dream again?" Lupo coughed out, and took to sitting on his knees before the other man. Scotty's only response was another sigh and he rubbed at his eyes. "Christ, brother, you need to quit that shit," he said, flipping long dreadlocks back behind his head and managed a chuckle.

"The fuck did you want?" Scotty asked, annoyed at the dark skinned man before him. Lupo, or as Benny had often called him Molotov Man, was always good at being a nuisance, especially around Scotty. The darker man, whose ethnicity Scotty couldn't even begin to determine from the man's accent—he guessed at one point some kind of mixture of Scottish, Hispanic, and maybe something African—had a habit of always either asking for his cigarettes, or just taking them in his sleep like he had tried now. He also had a habit of punching the Southern man in the arm, ruffling his hair, or throwing an arm around his shoulders while he talked to him. He was annoying, and Scotty wasn't the fondest of him.

"I just wanted some smokes, man. No need to strangle me for 'em. Sorry..."

"The fuck you always gotta have my cigarettes, huh?" Scotty asked, agitated. The dream was still slowly fading from his memory the more he conversed with the living world, and he was thankful for the distractions, even if they did come from Lupo.

"Spilled beer all over mine...Just wanted one, that's it, just one," he explained, holding up a finger to signify his 'one' cigarette. "Mine are still dryin' outside."

"Fuck," Scotty muttered, once again running his hands over his face, feeling the sweat drenching the roots of his hair and his brow. He lay his elbows on his knees as he lent his head back, staring tiredly at the tin ceiling of the shanty, thoughts and memories muddling together inside his head. He vaguely remembered most of his past; he had pushed those memories far back into the recesses of his mind, hoping that they would eventually disappear. He preferred the company of more recent memories these days, though they were more violent and bloody than previous ones, there were still a few that reminded him that he was still human. A more recent one of a certain brown haired, green eyed she-wolf moaning and groaning beneath him and clawing at his back flooded his thoughts and tingled his abdomen. Wonder when I'll see her again, he thought, sighing up to the ceiling and whirring his lips. He glimpsed down to his shoulder where a very prominent bite mark still graced his skin and he felt his dick twitch between his legs. They'd have to do that again sometime.

"So...can I have one?" Lupo's voice sounded, pulling Scotty from rather pleasant thoughts.

Scotty growled inwardly and pulled out his pack of cigarettes, lighting one up for himself, Lupo looking at him pleadingly. He rolled his eyes and leant back again, blowing out a puff of smoke to the ceiling. "No," he stated nonchalantly, and dragged from the cigarette again. Lupo for the most part, looked absolutely heartbroken and he whined aloud.

"Come on, brother, just one, that's all-"

"Look I got one fucking pack left and I ain't too keen on sharin' alright. Go ask someone else," and with this he waved the man off, dragging again and blowing the smoke out through his nose as the other man refused to leave. "I said get!"

"No one else will give me any," he said, shrinking away from the angering Texan.

"Wonder why," Scotty muttered, blowing out another plume of smoke.

"What was that?" Lupo asked, rising to his feet and gazing out the open door.

"What was what?" Scotty said glaring over towards the darker skinned man. He became aware of the anxious barking of a dog in the camp and listened intently to determine whether it was a dingo or some kind of rabid wild dog. The barking continued.

"Mate, that's Vinnie," Lupo exclaimed and hopped out of the shanty, Scotty quickly rising to his feet to follow the Molotov Man.

"The fuck is Vinnie doin' here?" He squinted his eyes in the bright rays of the sun as he followed the other male to the center of the camp where there was indeed a Vinnie, hopping around the men and barking insistently.

"What is it, boy?" Lupo asked the dog, as if said dog were capable of human speech. "Is little Timmy stuck in the well?"

" _Perro Timmy 'sta aqui,"_ Luis said, looking at the Molotov man with much curiosity. Why would Little Tim be stuck in a well. Could the man even fit in a well? That would explain a situation where the giant of a man would be stuck in a well.

"Haven't you ever seen Lassie, brother?" Lupo said with a smirk, and the dog barked once again, agitated with these humans already. Couldn't they see that he was calling for their help?

"I'm surrounded by fuckin' morons," Scotty grumbled, rubbing his eyes and shaking his head. "Somethin's obviously happened, alright? I mean do you see Benny or Vaas anywhere around?" he asked the men with a sneer, and their puzzled looks only shocked the Southern man. "Idiots." He made his way to the biggest shack, knowing full well that Timmy had bedded down for the remainder of the morning. The large brute wouldn't be happy with Scotty's waking of the man, but that was a chance Scotty was willing to take as he burst through the door. "Timmy, we got trouble-" he paused mid-sentence to eye the giant sitting on his bed, back to the wall as he read from a book, the binding ripped and the cover creased in several places. He seemed well into the story. "Are you reading Of Mice and Men?"

Timmy glared harshly at the blonde man intruding his privacy and grunted at him, quickly laying the book down beside him, away from the Texan's sight. "What is it?" he growled, and pulled himself to sit on the edge of the bed, rubbing tiredly at his eyes. Really he should have been sleeping but good books were hard to come across on this island, and they didn't stay intact very long either.

"You ain't heard the barkin'? Vinnie's outside...I think somethin' musta happened," he explained warily, keeping to sticking by the door frame. "Benny and Vaas and Mango ain't here with him. They musta run into some trouble."

The large man grunted in response and pulled himself to his feet, grabbing his assault rifle from the table and shoved past Scotty as he made his way to the middle of the camp, watching the dog jump on his paws frantically trying to get the pirates' attentions. They needed to move their asses and go save the others! Timmy observed the canine, his barking a constant noise as he bounced around, running to the gates of the camp and back, paws covered in mud and slight foliage. "I told you," Scotty's voice sounded behind the man and he turned to the blonde, ever present scowl on his face. "Somethin' bad's happened. Think we should go check it out." Scotty bit his lip nervously after Timmy offered nothing but a scowl, as usual. The larger man heaved a sigh.

"Alright, you and Lupo come with me. We're gonna go see what we can find," he ordered, and Scotty and Lupo set off to acquire weapons as Timmy then turned to the remaining pirates. "The rest of you stay here in case they show up. I'll let you know if we find anything, and you do the same." The pirates nodded at the order and within minutes Timmy, Scotty, Lupo and Vinnie set off in the jeep, a strange feeling coming over Scotty as they rolled from the camp. Shrug it off man, just shrug it off.

A good twenty minutes in there was a pulsing beat reverberating through the jungle and Scotty narrowed his eyes through the trees. "What's that?" It sounded faintly like music, but the tones were muffled by the dense jungle and Timmy continued to steer the jeep along the road, eyes searching over the tree lines for any signs of his leader or the other two...

"Is that their truck?" came Lupo as he stood in his seat, hanging onto the roll cage as he gazed ahead of them. "It is! There on the bridge!"

The jeep stopped and the men surveyed the wreckage. The loud pounding of the music blared through the truck's speakers as it hung precariously over the side of the bridge, Scotty's shotgun that he had given to Benny flung from the vehicle and laying in the middle of the bridge. Scotty picked up the weapon, gazing over the gun as he furrowed his brow, frowning. What had happened? Vinnie the dog wandered around the site, nose stuck to the ground as he sniffed around for any scents that might lead him to his master. Lupo ejected the CD from the player, silencing the vehicle, should the music draw in any unwanted guests. Scotty glanced over the side of the bridge, seeing nothing but the river water below and then...what was that? That was... "Fuck," he muttered, blue eyes widening at the sight of a lifeless crocodile, its body half on the shore, and a knife imbedded into its skull. "The hell happened?"

"Two sets of tire tracks," Timmy announced, walking over the tracks in the dirt and scanning his eyes over the roads. "Looks like their tail end was hit," he said, pointing his gun to the downed truck, the left back end of the vehicle smashed and disfigured.

"Gee, you think," Scotty said, shaking his head and rolling his eyes to the sky. Obviously the truck had been hit by the image of the damage on it.

Timmy ignored the man's sarcasm. "Bunch of footprints leadin' into the jungle. Looks like a bunch of natives...maybe Mango or Benny too, considerin' the boot prints."

"I'll check it out," Scotty said, unholstering a pistol and slinging the shotgun over his shoulder. "Vinnie!" he whistled for the dog and the pitbull sauntered alongside the Southern man, nose stuck to the ground again as it sniffed out anything of familiarity. A few minutes into the jungle and Vinnie barked, encouraging the blonde man to jog after the dog, that worrying sense coursing through his body again. He found the dog sniffing around a flattened area of earth, the evidence of life stomping on the grass alerting Scotty that something bad had definitely happened, especially when he knelt down beside the dog as it barked to the ground. There was a shimmering black against the green of the grass and Scotty recognized it right away. "Shit." He picked up the throwing knife, examining it, and noticing that there wasn't a speck of blood on it, ground his teeth together. Shit had definitely gone down, and now his comrades were in trouble. Fucking great.

"Timmy!" Timmy turned his attention from the river—he had caught the sight of the dead crocodile with the knife and thought over possibilities that would put the reptile in such a predicament—and he watched the Southerner bolt from the jungle, running over the parts of vehicular objects littering the road. "Timmy, I think they got 'em."

"Whose got who?" Lupo asked, watching the blonde man hold up the black throwing knife. Wait a minute. That was Benny's! Why the hell wasn't it with her?

"Who do you think's got who?" Scotty barked, gripping the knife in his hand and glaring at the other man. "Those Rakyat fucks! They got 'em. Benny and Vaas and Mango...we gotta do somethin'..."

"Wait, why would they take 'em?" Lupo interjected, waving his hands about. "I mean...wouldn't they just kill them? Why go through the trouble..."

"Come on Lupo, why do you think? Who the hells got the biggest vendetta on this island against Vaas? Hah?"

Lupo furrowed his eyebrows together in thought, biting his lip. "Don't tell me...I know this. I know this..."

Scotty growled out in agitation and spread his arms out for emphasis. "Citra, you fucking idiot!"

"Um...who was Citra again..."

"Oh my God," Scotty grabbed at his hair, trying his hardest not to shove the shotgun up this imbecile's ass and pull the trigger. "His fucking sister! Fuck..."

"Oooh, his sister...why didn't you just say so."

That's it. He was going to do it. He was going to shove that shotgun to the fucking trigger up this idiot's ass and watch the fucking fireworks. Thankfully, Vinnie's barking halted any action he was about to take on his dim-witted comrade and all three men turned their heads to the noisy canine as it wagged its tail and barked down a road that veered off the one across the bridge. The men made their way over to this road and Scotty narrowed his eyes down the path. The pirates avoided this road for one reason. It lead to a place swarming with armed warriors. "I don't get it," Lupo said, tilting his head at the road. "Why would they capture them? Why not just kill 'em and end it?"

"Cuz I'm sure, from what I've heard at least, that Citra wants Vaas all to herself."

"Then why take Mango and Benny?" Timmy asked, gesturing down the road with the assault rifle.

"How the fuck should I know? All I do know is that they have 'em, and we gotta save 'em."

Lupo shook his head. "Uh-uh, no way. Sorry brother, but my loyalty ends here. I'm not about to sacrifice my ass for some guy that threatens it on a regular basis."

"What!" Not that Scotty was necessarily suggesting that they risk their lives for Vaas. No his mind was on someone else. His subconscious began to scream obscenities at himself.

"He's right, Scotty," came Timmy's low voice and Scotty turned to him, blue eyes wide in surprise. "Vaas knew the risks of driving these roads."

"Timmy, they were _captured_. Don't think those native fuckers are merciful. Cuz they ain't. Remember what they did to Miko? Do you fucking remember?" Scotty didn't like to think of the time their former team member was dropped off at their camps gate, deep gashes in his body and entrails hanging from his abdomen. What was worse was that the Rakyat had left him alive, as some kind of threat or warning to the pirates perhaps. Granted he died hours later, but he suffered greatly...

"Yes! I remember, ain't hard to forget that shit. Which is exactly why _we_ are not going after them."

Scotty glared up at the dark man, blue eyes cast over with a haze of anger. He opened his mouth to respond but Timmy cut him off. "It's every man for himself on this island. Vaas made that pretty clear. If they were captured then they're on their own. We can't help them." He nodded for Lupo to follow him to the jeep, but Scotty and Vinnie remained planted by the road, Vinnie whining and barking and Scotty glowering at the heavy man's back. "Scotty...don't try to do anything stupid. It's a fools errand if you try to rush in there." Scotty curled his lips in a scowl and glanced back at the road. Timmy was right, unfortunately. After all...Vaas wouldn't risk his hide for them...why should they?

A heavy sigh escaped the Southern man's lips and he brought his eyes away from the road before him, slumping his shoulders slightly. Any other time, he wouldn't give a damn about their leader, but it was the person with their leader that he was worried about...no he wasn't necessarily worried, but his subconscious was telling him otherwise. It told him that if he didn't do something to see to it that Benny was safe, he'd regret it. After all, it was hard to come by actual friends on this death trap of an island, and he was very grateful for her company... He shrugged it off though. There was honestly no point. Unless they got every single pirate on the island to help, there was no hope for their three captured comrades...unless we could sneak in somehow, he thought to himself. A fools errand indeed, but he had done more foolish things than sneak into enemy territory for an extraction. That was peanuts compared to the other foolish things he had done. "Come on, Vinnie," he said, tugging at the dog's studded collar. The dog whined in protest and struggled against the man's grasp. "Come on, boy. Ain't nothing we can do now."

Scotty stewed inside the shanty, mind racing over the events of the past month as he fiddled with the shells of the shotgun, unloading and reloading the gun in his lap. Honestly, it was the most eventful month he'd had on the island since his arrival here two years ago. Most of the time he just meandered around the outpost, doing this or that, taking watch, going on the occasional drug run, killing the occasional native, having sex with the occasional prostitute. But it all mulled together in the end and there was never any outcome of any sort, if there ever was one to begin with. Drink, smoke, snort, fuck, kill, repeat. After two years it turned into blah blah. Nothing was exciting anymore save for the occasional showdowns with native warriors. Every once in a while Vaas would grace their camp and voice his thoughts and opinions, sometimes bringing along a prisoner for the men to torment at their whim. Whenever the pirate lord was around, Scotty found himself partaking in more drugs than he usually would, if only to tolerate the unpredictable man's presence. On one particular night that Scotty to this day still tried to forget, Vaas had brought a native girl to the camp. Scotty remembered her black hair matted with dirt, her clothes torn and ripped, and her bare feet covered in mud and grass. She had run from the pirate lord, but Vaas always caught his prey. Always.

Scotty remembered the fear in those dark brown eyes when she was shoved through the camp, Vaas' laughter ever present behind her. It was the fifth of July, Scotty's birthday, and Vaas seemed to remember, that or he was very good at guessing, for he had shoved the struggling girl into the American's chest, announcing a 'Happy Birthday' and encouraging the man to partake in a little fun with the young girl.

Blue eyes narrowed at the memory. She couldn't have been any older than fifteen, and he swallowed at remembering just what it was he had done. It wasn't long after Vaas had introduced him to the girl that he left her to stand, alone inside the shanty, where he thought she would be safe, at least from the other men. He remembered Vaas announcing his present for Scotty to the other men, all of whom chuckled and waggled their eyebrows at the man. Scotty didn't think to do anything that night, until he had delved into a series of drugs. Cocaine and marijuana and alcohol ran through his system that night and his judgment dwindled. He found himself stumbling towards their sleeping quarters, his mind overtaken by a colorful light that sent him on a high he hadn't experienced for a long while. He was giddy, happy, and horny. What he did afterward, to that girl in this very building he sat in still plagued his mind to this day. And the thought of it sickened him as he reloaded the shotgun for the sixth time.

Lupo sat on his own cot, smoking on a wrinkly cigarette that tasted of beer, and played with one of his Molotovs, spinning it around in his hand. "Sorry about Benny, brother," the mixed man said, dragging from his dry cigarette. "You two really clicked." And he accentuated his point by pounding his fists together. Scotty only sighed and fiddled with the gun some more. "Ya know, I'm gonna miss her always callin' me Molotov Man." He snickered at the thought and cast Scotty a genuine smile. Scotty took a glance at the man and sighed, getting to his feet and motioning for the Molotov man to follow.

"Come on, Lupo. We're leaving," he told him, casually as he opened the door.

"Where we goin?" Lupo asked, rising from his cot and following the blonde man as he strapped his Molotov back into place.

Scotty glanced around the camp, noticing his fellow pirates drinking and smoking and some even working, pulling pallets of drugs to the storage room. All in all...they seemed pretty busy. "Check out the crash some more," Scotty told him, shouldering the shotgun and heading for the jeep.

"Wait, what? What for?"

"See if we missed anything," Scotty barked behind him. Vinnie's barks started to sound out around the camp and the canine came prancing to the Southern man's side when he noticed the human heading for the jeep. The dog had been, for the most part, pitiful the past couple of hours since they had returned to the outpost. He lay at the foot of the deck, head in his paws with his ears drooped, a whine escaping now and then as his stark blue eyes scanned over the camp, as if hoping that at any minute, either someone was going to take action, or Vaas was going to appear out of thin air and erase his worry. Vinnie was happy that someone was going to take action.

"What could we have possibly missed?" Lupo asked as he joined the blonde man in the jeep, the dog quickly hopping up to sit between them, barking excitedly. Lupo shoved the dog over, muttering something under his breath about giving him some elbow room.

"I don't know," Scotty muttered, fiddling with the keys. Timmy said not to go after them, but...the dummy had left the keys in the ignition. If he thought Scotty wasn't going to see that as anything other than an opportunity, then he was sorely mistaken. "Somethin'. I mean...like you said. Why take Benny and Mango when all they need is Vaas, right?"

"Right..." The darker man bit at his thumbnail, hoping that Scotty wasn't about to do something that would get them killed.

As they coursed through the jungle, Lupo found himself a little on edge. He enjoyed a good fun time now and then, capturing tourists and killing Rakyat natives and getting high and all that jazz, but he wasn't so sure that looking around a car wreckage would turn out to be fun in the least. If anything, those Rakyat could be staking out the site, just waiting for them to come strolling in and then take them out. A knife to the gut didn't sound fun at all to the Molotov man and he swallowed. "You sure we might find something?" he asked, turning to the other man in the jeep. The blonde didn't respond right away, only tightened his grip on the steering wheel. "What if the Rakyat are staking that place out right now! I mean, we could be running into an ambush."

"If those guys are doing anything, it's celebratin'. They got Vaas right? No doubt a bunch of 'em are just waitin' to sink their teeth into him. If the stories about him and his sister are true, I doubt they'll want anything to do with us." Scotty tensed his shoulders, blue eyes darkening with a cold blood lust that he usually tried to hide inside of himself, never wanting that monster to rear its ugly head again. But his hold on it was slowly slipping, and he could feel it tearing away at him, trying to get out.

"But if they are waiting there, Scotty..." Lupo continued, flicking his nails against the lock on the door. "Then what?"

"Well if they are...we got guns," Scotty told him, a tiny smirk tugging at his lips.

"And so do they," Lupo ran a hand through his dreadlocks, blowing a breath out through pierced lips. "Brother if you think that we're in God's good graces here, I'd hate to break it to ya, but that motherfucker is going to make sure we go straight to Hell."

Scotty managed a scoff, smirk growing more prominent. "Already there, Lupo. In case you haven't noticed."

The darker man heaved a sigh and left the matter alone. The quicker they scoped out the wreckage the quicker they could go home and the quicker he could have a drink. They were coming upon the bridge pretty quick and Lupo grabbed for his gun, ready for any enemy to come rushing from the jungle when they stopped the jeep. But they didn't stop the jeep, and Lupo furrowed his brows in confusion. "What are you doin' brother?" He watched the blonde man swerve the truck off the bridge and onto the road leading towards the Rakyat's territory. Uh-oh, this was not good. "Are you fucking crazy, man!" He shouted to the Texan, head quickly whipping around from the tree lines, the crash site, and back to Scotty.

"Look, all I need to do, is just get inside the temple, that's all," Scotty stated, drumming his fingers against the wheel and glaring ahead to the road. That's all he needed to do, was get inside the temple, and get to Vaas. If he could do that...

"You are fuckin' crazy, man!" Lupo growled at him, suddenly feeling betrayed by his comrade. This man was going to get him killed. "You can't just storm the temple with a shotgun and a pistol and expect those asses to move out of your way! You're gonna get us both killed."

"Lupo, I said I need to get inside. I don't need to storm no nothin' to do that. I just need to get to Vaas."

"And what then? Huh? First off, how are you going to get inside? Second off," he scoffed and shook his head. "Even if you do get to Vaas, if they are even holding them there, how are you going to get out? _And_ , what's Vaas gonna do about anything?"

Scotty sighed, and rubbed at his eyes once again, combing his fingers through his hair. "I know they got 'em there. Where else would they take a former member of theirs huh? As for Vaas...I don't know," he said, defeated. He took a breath and blew it out slowly, wondering just how fucked up he was thinking. You're gonna kill yourself. "I mean, he was one of 'em right? And if he was supposed to be their...freakin' leader or whatever, I don't know, maybe if I can get a gun in his hands..." he shook his head again, slapping the wheel with his hand. "Maybe they'll back off. I'd just need to get inside..."

"Alright, and how you gonna do that?" Lupo asked, pursing his lips and glaring at the man beside him. "Just Rambo your way in or something?"

"Well, that's where you come in," he said with a small smirk, eyeing the darker man.

Lupo's eyes widened. "Me! What the hell am I supposed to do?"

"You like to start fires right, Lupo?" He sent a knowing smile to the Molotov man, who answered with a shrug. He did like to start fires, as if the burn scars adorning his hands and arms weren't any indication of that fact. "Well, I figure, you can be the distraction..."

"Distraction! No, no, no, no, no, brother. I am not a distraction-"

"Oh don't be a God damned pussy, Lupo-"

"No. I ain't doin' it. I know what you want me to do, and I ain't doin' it."

"Come on, man. Just a few Molotovs and-"

"No! I am not going anywhere near that temple!" Lupo was getting ready to just bail out of the jeep. Scotty was crazy. First of all, this was the first ever rescue attempt he'd ever seen the man make, not that anyone else ever jumped at the chance to save their amigos around here, but still, it seemed a little out of character for the American. Scotty never cared about anyone other than himself, so why the sudden need to rush off to the rescue like Captain America? Second of all, how could they even be sure if Vaas was at that particular temple?

"I just need to get through the gates. You can head back to the outpost as soon as I get in, alright?" Lupo sighed and shook his head. "Come on Lupo. That's all you need to do. Just set a few fires, get 'em to come out, I'll sneak in, perform an extraction, or try to at least," he said, his confidence quickly dwindling the further down the road they drove. The thought of actually sneaking over enemy lines sent a shiver up his spine. Those Rakyat were as ruthless as any pirate, and just as merciless. If he thought sneaking into their main base to rescue his fellow pirates was going to be anything like sneaking into a garage to steal a car—yes he had done that—he was crazy. He was becoming more and more aware of just how foolish this was becoming, but his subconscious reminded him that he was probably looking to die anyways.

Lupo once again shook his head. "Seems like an awful lotta work just for some pussy," he muttered.

"What?" Scotty snapped to the other man, a wave of anger washing over his body, and his fingers clutched the wheel tightly. Lupo glanced his way before back to the tree line. "What did you say?"

"Come on Scotty, everyone at the camp knows what you two did," he answered, being sure not to look the blonde man in the eyes when he did. "And quite frankly, we're all a little disappointed in you." Scotty scowled, curling his lips and glancing heavily at the man before back to the road. "I mean here you got this gorgeous ass climbin' all over you all month, and you play Mister Nice Guy just to get into her pants, but yet half the time you defended her when anyone else tried."

Scotty swallowed back the slew of threats and obscenities attempting to leave his mouth, and he continued to glare at the road, fingers flexing over the wheel. "I may have had her back maybe _twice_ in that whole time. It's not my fault she chose me over you fuckers." There was that emotion again, pushing against his chest when he thought of that woman, and his subconscious once again took a voice, telling him that he was avoiding his real reasoning for continuing his friendly relations with the girl.

"The only reason she did choose you is cuz you act all innocent, like you're not as bad as the rest of us," Lupo said, waving his hands in the air before bringing them to his lap. "She probably doesn't even know about half the shit you've done."

"Doesn't matter, Lupo," Scotty ground out, gripping the wheel tighter, knuckles turning white as he chewed at the inside of his cheek.

"Does she even know about the girl?"

"I said it doesn't matter, Lupo. Stop actin' fuckin' jealous of the whole thing, alright? It's over, it's done with."

Lupo scoffed, following it up with a chuckle. "Me? Jealous? Please brother, Lupo doesn't get jealous."

"Don't give me that bull shit, every chance you got you were tryin' to sneak a grab at her ass or her tits."

"Only because she's nice lookin'. Would I want a relationship with her though? No."

"And who the hell wants a relationship with her?"

"Well you have been kinda boyfriendy to her..."

It was Scotty's turn to laugh. "Boyfriendy? Is that what you just said?"

"Just sayin' brother. Just sayin...no wonder you got into her pants." He finished with another chuckle and took to staring back out into the jungle. The other men at the camp were rather jealous of Scotty, some even taking to uttering insults and jests amongst themselves. Why did Scotty get all the fun? Because he was some blonde haired, blue eyed, charismatic debonaire from the Southern states of America? Lupo contemplated. Probably, he thought.

Before the two could discuss the matter further Lupo was flung across the front seat of the jeep, slamming into Vinnie who gave out a yelp when Scotty swerved the vehicle at a gunshot. He pressed on the breaks and rose in his seat, equipping his shotgun and holding it up to his shoulder, scanning the area for the recipient of the gunshot. Maybe a stupid idea to expose himself, but his thoughts hadn't been very focused today...

"The fuck was that?" Lupo sounded from below the man, hugging the pitbull tightly to his chest in a cowardly manner. Vinnie struggled in the man's grasp, trying to investigate the situation they had settled themselves into.

"Whoever the fuck you are," Scotty shouted to the tree line, blue eyes darkening as he gazed over the jungle foliage, the dirt road, and to the other side, "show yourselves, before I come out there and find y'all myself. Trust me, you don't want the barrel of this gun to be the last thing you see."

There was a rustling in the brush and Scotty trained the gun on it, eyes focusing on his soon to be target as his finger itched on the trigger. Sweat from the humid day coated his brow in a light sheen, a droplet running down his temple and sticking to a blonde lock of hair. His heart thumped in his chest, and that tightening squeeze around it sent an energy through his limbs, and he ushered in his blood lust.

The sounds of boots on earth, cracking twigs and leaves, zeroed his attention in and he pumped the shotgun, intent on killing whoever it was that had fired upon them. All anger and anticipation though quickly fled from his body as his target emerged from the jungle. It was Mango, and he looked well worse for the wear.

"Mango?" the Southern man lowered his gun and knit his eyebrows together, puzzled. What the hell had happened. The boy stumbled across the road and towards their jeep, his breathing ragged and heavy, sweat covering his body and sticking his clothes to his skin. The red bandana he usually adorned around his head was missing, and his black hair clung to his forehead. His dark eyes were wild with a fear and adrenaline as he stumbled to his comrades, a pair of pistols gripped tightly in his hands, their holsters slung over his shoulders. Scotty caught the glimpse of the suspenders on one holster as they dangled down over the boy pirate's body, and concluded it was Vaas'. Well, where the hell was Vaas?

"Scotty, thank fucking God," Mango mumbled, laying his arm over the side of the jeep, sighing gratefully and wiping at his forehead with his other arm. Lupo bit his lip and wandered his eyes over the younger pirate, the boy's body weak and weary.

"What happened?" he asked, finally letting go of the dog in his arms. Vinnie shook his body of the sensation and jumped from the jeep, barking.

"Vaas!" Mango called out behind him, breathing still heavy as he lent into the cooling metal of the vehicle. "It's alright! It's just Scotty..." he sighed again and lay his head on his arm against the jeep, thankful that his run was finally over.

Scotty jumped from the jeep in time to see an equally worse for the wear Vaas trudge from the jungle, steps uneven and he grunted at the effort, readjusting the body in his arms. Was that...it was.

"Son of a bitch, what the hell happened!" Scotty asked, running over to the pirate lord as he struggled to keep the bleeding woman falling from his grasp. Though Mango seemed for the most part unscathed aside from a few cuts and bruises, Vaas' body was riddled with them, and a long stream of blood ran a path down from his mouth and over his chin, sticking in the facial hairs and dripping down to his chest. There was a small gash at his temple and his bottom lip was split open. There were multiple cuts on the back of his left hand where a bandage had once wrapped around, and it coated the whole limb in crimson. The woman in his arms though seemed to have taken the most damage; though there were the ever present bruises that she just couldn't stay away from, as Vaas handed her limp body over to Scotty, the blonde couldn't help but grimace at the site of a massive gash on the right side of her head peeking over Mango's bandana. The red cloth was an even darker shade as it drenched in blood, and the gash resumed its course from under the bandana to travel over the woman's right eye and down her cheek.

"We need to go, now," Vaas wheezed out, and coughed as he did his best to stand straight before the blonde man. He held tightly to his ribs as he pushed past him, holding back winces with every step he made. Vinnie was quick to run to his master's side, pushing and licking at his hand and whining worriedly as Vaas yanked his hand away from the dog, growling a low "get down," to the dog. This only caused the dog to worry more and he followed Vaas into the jeep, jumping up to sit next to the man as Vaas ordered Lupo to scooch over and drive them back to camp, quickly.

"What happened!" The Texan demanded, holding the moaning woman against his chest as he made his way around the side of the vehicle, climbing in and doing his best to balance Benny in his arms at the same time, Mango following suit, sighing exhaustively again and laying his head against his knuckles, hands holding ever more to the guns.

Vaas didn't answer the Southerner. He only grumbled curses as he pulled his shirt up to examine his wounds, once again ordering Lupo to drive faster. The pirate lord was in a hurry to be rid of this place, that was for certain.

"Mango what the hell happened to you guys?" Scotty asked the boy next to him, glancing down again to Benny's wounded face and then glaring back up at Mango.

Mango breathed out a heavy breath and rubbed one of the pistols against his temple as he lay the holsters down on the jeep floor. "Citra," he muttered, and Scotty's brow furrowed, his lips set in a straight line and he watched Benny's eyes flutter open and closed, and listened as pain filled moans escaped her blood drenched lips.

"Don't worry, there darlin'," he told the brunette, showing her his famous smirk when her eyes opened weakly up to his face. "We'll get ya all fixed up," he said reassuringly, though in the back of his mind he could only think of all the negatives, seeing the blood's constant flow from under the bandana as it flooded down her face, neck, shoulder, and chest.

The only thing Benny could think of as her eyes closed once more, the burning feeling of warm blood touching her retinas, was Vaas' actions that took place inside that temple. "Why..." she breathed out against Scotty's chest and watched her curiously.

"Why what?" he asked cautiously, wiping the blood away from her face with a palm. But it just kept flowing.

"Why ain't I dead?" Scotty barely heard her as she slipped into a world of unconsciousness, and he frowned.

…...

_**A few hours earlier...** _

Her head was pounding yet again, her brain bouncing around inside of her throbbing skull, and every time she made an effort to open her eyes, the blinding light of the sun would burn at her pupils and force her eyes shut again. The pulsing pounding of her head signaled to her that she had once again reacquainted her cranium with a blunt object, and she groaned.

Not only did her head ache, but so did her wrists and arms and shoulders. As she flexed her fingers against the bindings, she came to the marvelous conclusion that she had, yet again, got strung up like a dead pig, and her muscles ached something terrible. Her fingers were turning a sickening blue/purple color from the constriction around her wrists and there was a sting in her left bicep. Oh yeah, that's right, she was shot. Well not shot, but shot at, and the wound the bullet had left behind on her flesh was burning and stinging and she could feel the blood running from the gash and down the back of her shoulder. This was not at all how she had wanted to spend her day.

Here Benny had thought that Vaas was taking her on a lovely tour of the island as they made their way to this compound everyone talked about, and that he was finally going to show her the human trafficking side of this operation, the whys and hows and becauses...Benny moaned audibly in her throat. Today sucked.

Benny made a decision to attempt at opening her eyes once again, after all, it was best she get her bearings now should she attempt to escape this one, though her wrists were bound much tighter than the last time. Taking a chance, Benny slowly opened one eye, then the other, jungle green taking in their surroundings. Where in the Seven Hells was she? It was like something off the history channel she thought; stone walls, tall thick stone walls carved into by its people stuck up from the ground on all sides of her. The walls had to be a few stories high at least, and maybe a good few feet thick if she strained to look hard enough. The post she was hung from overlooked a grassy earthy courtyard of sorts, alters of fire burning a path through the temple's interior, down a set of rocky stairs, and disappearing through a stone corridor. _Can anyone say Road to El Dorado?_

_Now is not the time for joking Benny._

_There's never a worse time not to...I think...I can't think straight, my head hurts._

_Well start thinking straight! You gotta get outta this! And fast!_

_What's the rush?_

_Gah!_

Benny's eyes followed the path of fires back over the steps and she wandered her eyes over the grass carpeting the temple grounds, her eyes stopping at a large tree in the middle of the yard, white markings painted around its trunk. _Tree of life, perhaps?_ To her left was a continuation of the temple, but only walls and doorways; she couldn't see anything else. She could only tell that this place had seen better days, what with the chunks missing from walls and piles of stone everywhere...

Her eyes closed again, muddling over the events that lead her here. _We were hit, and hard. I guess we now know from who...I hope **we** know. _Benny chanced to open her weary eyes once gain, and ignoring the excruciating pain in her head, she scanned the area again. Where were they? Everything was blurring together and Benny couldn't focus in on much else of anything past the massive tree. She saw shapes moving here and there, fuzzy images of men meandering around, one sitting at the base of the tree cutting off slices of a mango. Mango...Mango! Benny squinted her eyes, trying to pull her surroundings into focus. She could faintly make out a tall, dark figure clothed in an army green, and she blinked her eyes rapidly, squeezing them shut, then opening them again.

Images started to clear, and she could see them. Yes! _I mean no!_ Benny's lip curled in a wince as she examined her captured comrades. They were both strung up as she had been, and the first thought to grace Benny's mind was _Hah! Suck on that Vaasco! Not so fun when you're on the other end of the ropes hah?_ But her mind settled down after a few seconds and she thought seriously this time. _Son of a bitch, they got Vaasco. What the hell!_ Squinting her eyes harder, she could tell the man was in a most uncomfortable position. He was hung up like she was, wrists bound tightly in scratchy ropes that pulled tightly at his arms and his toes barely grazed the grass. His head hung down, chin at his chest and Benny could catch glimpses of a twitch here or a jolt there. It wasn't long after that that the pirate came to, and the second realizing that he had been bound up like one of his hostages, a lengthy roar escaped him and he swung and pulled at the bonds, throwing out many an F-bomb and Spanish curses. It was when he started to kick at the tattooed men around him did that dark figure in the army green approach, sending a good swing of a rifle into the pirate lord's stomach. Benny heard the grunt Vaas gave as he bent his knees up, cringing from the pain that now soared through his abdomen. "Shit," Benny mumbled, closing her eyes once again.

_I need some Advil._

This was not good. Not good at all. They had been rammed, beaten on, and captured by Rakyat; things couldn't possibly get any worse.

Benny sighed and opened her eyes once again, and startled at what appeared before her. Benny swallowed and surveyed the woman that graced her presence. Well, even Benny had to admit, she was attractive, not that Benny swung that way—not that Benny hadn't tried on an occasion or two—but one has to admit when they see something beautiful right? Well...Benny inwardly shrugged. _She ain't that beautiful. I'm pretty sure I could show that up. Quick, fetch me my stilettos!_ As her inner thoughts fought with her common sense, Benny continued her observation of the woman. Twenties, definitely, and rather...scandalously clad. The woman bore minimal clothing, but what she did wear covered up any unmentionables and left tattoos exposed on her body. Accessories adorned her figure from every appendage and included her neck and ears. Benny noted the not so subtle hair cut too; both sides of her head shaven down of hair, and what was left was wrapped in tight braids that sailed down her back to her waist. A rather not very subtle either tattoo wrapped around her chin and Benny knit her eyebrows together, wondering why the fuck a woman would want to tattoo a beard onto their face. Well, to each his own, she thought.

As puzzled about the woman's garb as Benny was, the woman looked equally as puzzled as she scanned over the brunette, tilting her head, arching a thin eyebrow, and placing her hands on her hips. Benny bit her lip, wandering her eyes up and down the woman before her, wondering why nobody in this place wore any shoes! And above all else: wondering why nobody in this place greeted anyone with a hello! Seriously, Benny was growing bored of this knock out and tie up game everyone was playing.

"You people on this island have a very unorthodox way of saying 'hello'," Benny muttered, regretting letting her mouth form words. Forming words made her brain work, and her brain was hurting, and she didn't like it trying to work when it was hurting.

There was a light chuckle that came from the bronze skinned woman before her, and she brought green eyes up in curiosity. She felt a sudden sense of dejavu. "Do you always joke in the presence of danger?" Her accent was foreign to Benny, and the brunette continued to chew on her bottom lip. She wondered if this was that Rakyat woman the men around the camp had mentioned once in a while. _Danger? Duh. Well fuck, this is just peachy._

Benny grumbled and ceased the destruction of her lip under her teeth and managed a quirky smile. "Only on Wednesdays," she pushed out, her throat feeling rather raw and scratchy. _I'm thirsty...could I ask this woman for a beer?_

_Beer isn't thirst quenching Benny, and stop getting off topic!_

Another laugh escaped the tribal woman's lips and she hung her head back, black braids dancing over her back as she did so. She brought her gaze back to Benny who, for the most part, was confused. The native's smile then turned quickly to a frown as she approached the brunette, steps slow and calculated and Benny watched the other woman taking her jolly ol' time. Benny took this time to glance behind the woman and back over to Vaas and Mango, Mango finally coming back into consciousness, and Vaas spitting obscenities to the Rakyat men, who responded with punches to his face, ribs, or stomach. The pirate lord grimaced, but continued his antics. It probably wasn't a good idea, especially when that dark skinned man approached him again.

"Who are you?" Benny brought her attention back to the Rakyat woman, green eyes meeting the startling bright color of the others eyes, their hue clinging onto an in-between color of green and blue. They were rather mesmerizing, a lot like Vaas', though much brighter and colorful. Benny frowned when she noticed just how close the woman had gotten to her, though not as close as Vaas had gotten when he first introduced himself. A headbutt was out of the question.

Benny sighed, flexed her fingers, and furrowed her brows. "Nunya," she murmured, pursing her lips.

The darker woman rose an eyebrow expectantly. "As in nunya biz," Benny continued with a smirk. It may not have been the smartest decision to make, but since when did Benny make smart decisions, ever. The other woman ordered something in her foreign language that Benny was tired of not understanding, but before she could grumble any response she felt a hard punch sent to her stomach and she doubled over, er, up, cringing and muttering a 'fucker' through grit teeth as she eyed the Rakyat warrior responsible for the punch angrily.

"I'll ask you again, and you will answer me truthfully, won't you?" the woman said with a snarl, hands at her hips once again. Benny didn't respond, but she kept her eyes on this unknown woman. "Who are you?"

_Just answer her. Don't get yourself into anymore trouble._

"Benny," she said, sighing, glancing once again to her comrades. The dark man was blocking her view of Vaas, but things weren't looking good over there. "Benny Hanna."

"Are you lying to me?" There was a glimmer of a threat in her voice, and Benny suddenly started to worry.

She shook her head, not in answering, but she couldn't do many other gestures to explain herself. "That's what I'm called. Nothing else. Sorry I share it with a restaurant chain..."

The woman seemed to be contemplating Benny's answer, crossing her arms over her chest and tilting her head once again. "And why are you here?" she asked, pointing her chin out at the brunette.

Benny didn't know what this woman wanted. If she was going to kill her, just do it already. Why the sudden third degree?

_Gee, maybe it's because you're a woman among pirates?_

_Perhaps..._

Benny lowered her gaze down to the grassy earth, whirring her lips and casting her eyes this way and that around the darker woman's bare legs and feet. _Fuck you people and your ability to not grow body hair._ She furrowed her brows and looked back up to the woman, than to the sky in a wonderous manner. "It's one of life's great mysteries isn't it?" she said, memories of video games and internet series concerning games rapidly running through her mind. "Why are we here? I mean," she bit her lip once again and met the hard gaze of the other woman. "Are we the product of some cosmic coincidence, or is there really a God watching everything? With like, a plan for us. I don't know, brah," she looked back up to the sky. "But it keeps me up at night." _I hope I get out of here alive, if just to play some Xbox one last time..._

The woman before her stared, bright eyes narrowing in thought. Benny knew the woman had no clue of what she was talking about, nor where she had gotten the quote from, so Benny suddenly felt rather intellectual for once. For all this woman knew, Benny thought philosophically, and people liked philosophical people, right? She spoke once more to the man near Benny in that native language and the man nodded, walking from Benny's side, and Benny sighed exasperated that she couldn't understand this language. "Excuse me," she caught the darker female's attention and gave a scoff. "But I'm from America okay...we speak Spanish there." She chuckled, but the other woman didn't seem too entertained by Benny's joke. Benny cleared her throat and smiled. "Um...so who are you?" She kept the smile in place, and the woman responded with her own, though her's seemed a little more predatory than Benny's, and the brunette gulped silently.

"You haven't heard of me? And here I thought Vaas would have told you all about me," she said with a small grin and took a step closer to the brunette. Benny frowned and wandered her eyes around again before bringing them back and she shook her head. "I'm Citra, and I lead the Rakyat," the woman said, once again raising her chin in, what Benny thought, a rather snooty manner as she waved an arm around the men occupying the dilapidated temple. "His sister," she finished, letting her wave halt over the direction of Vaas before lowering her hand.

Vaas' voice broke through the distance and breached Benny's eardrums. "Don't fucking talk to her, Benny!" he yelled, and was quickly silenced when another fist found his face, and he growled.

Benny's eyes widened and she peeked over the woman's shoulder in search of her entertaining leader. He wasn't looking very good anymore and she bit her lip worriedly. "Citrus?" she asked, deliberately going after the Rakyat woman with a sudden abhorrence.

Citra was not amused and Benny could tell. _I'm gonna die._ "Ya know," Benny said hesitantly, "for bein' his sister, you don't sound very Puerto Rican...um, Hispanic...I'm not racist..." she ended her observation with her lip under her teeth again. She was becoming nervous. This Citra character left a strange feeling in the pit of Benny's stomach, and it made the brunette want to just vomit. There was something off about her. Vaas Benny could get, no problem, but Citra...Benny just didn't get her.

"Because Vaas was always coddled by our mother. He rebelled against our tribe every chance he got, until he took it too far," Citra said with a seething anger rising inside of her. Benny decided not to press on with the getting to know you's and decided she was much happier just being quiet. "I'll be honest with you, I believe her death was for the better." Well, that was certainly unexpected. What person was happy their parents were dead, well, if they're parents didn't deserve to die? Odd...Benny considered the woman crazy and refused to take her seriously anymore.

The man from before returned, handing over a small black object to his leader, bowing his head and Benny eyed the object closely. _That bitch!_ "That's one of my knives," she said, glaring now at the woman, who only returned with a smile as she ran her fingers over the black blade. Citra approached her slowly, and Benny struggled against her bonds for a few seconds, not liking where this was going.

"It is a good blade," Citra said pleasantly, taking slow steps towards the brunette, smile still apparent on her face as she admired the sharp object in her hands. "No doubt you've taken many innocent lives with it," she brought her gaze back to Benny, bright blue/green meeting jungle and Benny shrugged.

"Don't forget the guilty ones," she mentioned, eying her knife carefully as the woman twirled it around her hands.

"You know-" Citra was cut off rapidly by the growling shouts of her sibling as he screamed across the courtyard again.

"Fuck Benny, I can see your fucking lips moving. Stop fucking talking to her!" he was once again silenced by a kick to the ribs by the much darker man.

Vaas glared irately at the man who had assaulted him since his regaining of consciousness and he sneered. "You hit like a fucking pussy, Dennis," he ground out, eyes darkening and the brown was quickly overtaking the green. He once again felt a powerful kick to his side and he cringed, cursing at the man through clenched teeth.

"Come on Vaas, just shut up," Mango whined from his position a few feet from his leader. Upon opening his eyes and seeing Vaas alive, Mango could only think one thing. That guy is a fucking immortal god! After all, he had survived a crocodile attack, without even a scratch to show for it.

Vaas on the other hand, only struck it as dumb luck. The giant reptile had grabbed hold of his holster straps, missing his leg by mere centimeters. When the animal issued a death roll, that was when Vaas' instincts kicked in and he was able to grab a hold of his knife, wrap his body around the animal's head, and drive the blade through its skull. It took several attempts and he had lost his knife in the process, but he half wished the attack had killed him, or he wouldn't have climbed on shore to the large group of warriors waiting for him, and he wouldn't have been thwacked on the back of the head with the blunt end of a gun, and he wouldn't have ended up here.

"I would listen to your friend," came the accented voice of the assaulter, and Vaas uttered a 'fuck' under his breath, bringing his eyes up to meet the near black of the man's. "Citra doesn't want me to kill you, but I could do much worse."

Vaas laughed through split lips, his ribs aching with each breath but he seemed not to notice as he smirked devilishly back to Dennis. " _Hermano,"_ he started, snickering, "there ain't much you can do to me that hasn't already been done." Another lengthy and painful laugh escaped his throat, and he began to fiddle his fingers across his bandaged hand above him, keeping his gaze on the darker man before him.

"Vaas," Mango hissed, wondering to himself why he even cared, and quickly answered his inward question with the thought that Vaas was the only thing keeping him alive on this island.

"Shut the fuck up, Mango," Vaas growled, sending a glare the boy's way, and Mango sighed. Fine, if Vaas wanted to get his ass cut up like Miko then let him.

A subtle chuckle brought Vaas' attention back to the Liberian in front of him. "Sometimes I wonder why you still keep the boy around," he said, crossing his arms and smiling, though there was evidence of a much more malicious emotion behind that smile, and Vaas offered the man a knowing smirk. "He's not much of a force."

"Kid's fucking smart," he said with a wicked grin. "He fixes my shit and he ain't afraid to use a gun. Better shot than you ever were, I'll give him that." Though Mango should have felt complimented, he didn't. If anything he felt fucking sold out. Great, now they're gonna kill me. Thanks a lot Vaas. "If it weren't for that, I prolly would have killed him a long time ago," he finished off with a roll of his shoulders. His sides were aching from the kicks delivered to them, and his muscles in his arms were twisting in this uncomfortable predicament. He shrugged his pain aside though, and continued a humorous yet volatile grin. "So how's my sister, ha? Still cunty as ever?" he chuckled and relished the changing emotions on the African's face. "You still trying to get into her pants-"

Vaas was cut off sharply when a hard fist knocked his head back, blood gushing from his nose and running down his lips and chin as he pulled his head forward, managing little snickers as he shook his head. "After all these years, you still defend that bitch." He frowned now, and humorous eyes quickly turned to anger. He scoffed, then frowned again. "It's fucking sad, you know that right? Running around, doing her bidding, and in the end, what, you still get down to your knees and kiss her fucking feet for nothing more than a pat on the fucking back. Well fuck that shit-"

A hand grabbed at the straps on his chest and pulled him closer to the quickly angering man, dark eyes glaring murderously through the thick rimmed glasses and they met emotionless light eyes. Vaas didn't flinch, nor did he look away. Dennis was a fucking fool. "I told you years ago she'd just fucking use you. And am I right?" Vaas chuckled once again and Dennis lurched forward, nose centimeters from Vaas' bleeding one and he ground his teeth in agitation, Vaas' face still plain and emotionless. As Dennis continued his glare, Vaas' fingers continued their fiddling with the bandage, his wrists grinding against the rope as he dug his fingers under the fabric, and he felt one slide against a sharpened surface, but kept his plain gaze as it cut across the tip, and he could feel the blood slowly leaking from the digit to coat the bandage in a lovely red. No one else cared to take notice.

"Citra," Dennis started, a certain malice in his voice as he eyed the pirate lord, "has freed me from my past. And she tried to free you-"

Vaas didn't hold back the sudden bout of laughter, and it shook his body, his ribs begging him to stop but he could only continue. "Oh fuck," he said through the laughter. "Fuck that, no, fuck that!" The laughing ceased and he bared his teeth at the man. "She's fucking crazy and you fucking know it." Vaas' bouts of anger were quickly accelerating his drops of F-bombs, and it seemed they followed after every few words. "You go. Go, go make a perfect little fucking warrior with her. Lemme know how that fucking turns out for you." He ended his rant with a raising brow and he felt the sharp metal under his bandage slide out between his fingers, the razor cutting across his hand as he pulled it into the one with bleeding fingers. "Go on go, _amigo_ ," he barked at the African as the man still kept a firm hold on the straps. "Seriously, go, your breath fucking reeks. Go buy a fucking tic-tac," and he scrunched his nose up at the man, sneering.

Dennis responded only with a 'hmph' before pulling away from the pirate, chancing a tiny smirk his way that caused curiosity to rise in the man. The hell was Dennis doing now? "Huh, you know I almost forgot," Dennis said, reaching into the back pocket of his rolled up jeans. Vaas watched cautiously as the man pulled out a pair of pliers. Well fuck. "Remember the time you tried to kill me?" he asked, raising his eyebrows expectantly. Vaas just clicked his tongue and lolled his head back.

"You gonna bring that up again, huh?" he said exasperatedly. He watched lazily as two men came to either side of him. Well, this was going to be fun. Oodles.

Mango winced, then cringed. Why couldn't Vaas just keep his fucking mouth shut. Whenever Mango saw pliers he could only think of one thing, well two. Teeth and fingernails. And the ending was never very pleasant. He struggled in his bonds, pulling at his wrists and twisting his arms but they were too tight, and he was hadn't much else to do but watch his leader's body be held in place by two, count 'em, two Rakyat warriors. No doubt Dennis knew a kick wouldn't be hard for the pirate lord to initiate should he have the room and movement to do it, and Vaas could kick hard, Mango speaking from experience. And thus, he had called upon his fellow warriors to hold back the man's legs from kicking, and his head from butting, and took it upon himself to force the man's mouth open, pliers in hand. "Oh God," Mango muttered, swallowing hard. Good god he hated the image of someone getting their teeth yanked out. He could stand them being stabbed to death or burned to death, or whatever else to death (cutting ones tits out was rather new), but...not the teeth. Fingernails being ripped off was just as bad too.

Vaas struggled against the men, but there was only so much he could do with his hands bound above his head and two large males holding his legs and head in place, another one prying his mouth open and sticking an oily pliers in. He growled loudly as he felt the metal clamp around one of his molars and well, he wasn't surprised at the African. The man knew how to hold a grudge.

Dennis gave an audible grunt at his efforts. The pirate's teeth were strong and well taken care of by the looks of it, and he had to readjust the pliers, clamping onto the tooth at a lower angle, and the metal cut into the man's gums, blood starting to flow under his tongue. Vaas kicked and he pulled but the hold on his legs was strong as were the arms wrapping around his head. Dennis wriggled and pulled at the pliers, shook them, then pulled again, then wriggled them again and Vaas growled painfully as he felt his tooth rip away from the roots when Dennis gave a well effort yank. The pliers, and molar, were removed from his mouth hastily, a river of blood following afterward.

As more blood started to seep from the now gaping hole where his tooth once took residence, it flooded his mouth and he spat repeatedly, the blood quickly sticking to his chin and neck and chest. "Fuckin' cocksucker," he grumbled, spitting a good portion of blood at Dennis' feet. Dennis nodded for the men to release their hold on the pirate and they dispersed from the scene, Dennis managing a chuckle as he took the molar and held between his fingers, rolling it around before holding it up to the pirate's face. "An eye for an eye," he said with a chuckle. "Or should I say, a tooth for a tooth."

"Well don't forget to put it under your pillow..." Vaas spat out more blood, flicking his tongue over the now empty space. Dennis did not seem to like his little joke and rose the pliers up, taking a good whack at his temple with them, whipping Vaas' head violently to the side. He felt the blood leak down from the temple and he hung his head, teeth clenched and heavy breaths escaping his lips. Dennis left him to hang in agony. Vaas growled and grumbled and grimaced and grunted. That motherfucking prick was going to get what was coming to him, that much was certain.

"Vaas," Mango said cautiously, knowing full well that there was a raging monster inside of his leader that was raring to wave its ugly head. "You pulled out his fucking tooth!"

Vaas spat again and shook his head. "Hey it was a long time ago and I was drunk...very drunk. And I didn't pull it out, I punched it out," he explained, eyes glowering at the back of the man who had played D.D.S to his mouth.

"Well, I hope you got a plan for getting us out of here, _MacGyver_." There was a desperate worry in his brown eyes, and he winced when Vaas spat out another mouthful of blood.

"Come on, _hermano,"_ Vaas said with a chuckle, pushing the agonizing headache he had acquired aside. His eyes brightened as he clutched the razor blade between his fingers, flipping it here and there until he was in a good position to cut the ropes. "I always got a plan." He offered the boy a reassuring, albeit with a hidden wickedness, smile as he worked the razor on the ropes, the blood coming from his fingertips making it difficult to grasp the slippery metal, but he managed.

Another Rakyat came forward, and Vaas rolled his eyes. Was he going to be getting punched in the face by _every single_ one of these fucks today, or what?

In the meantime, Benny was, well she was being Benny. "I mean, I'm not saying that I'm in love with the guy or obsessed or anything like that," she rambled to a growing fed up Citra, "but he is cute, I'll give him that. And that unpredictability...mmm...it's entertaining really. I mean, not a lotta guys can pull off the whole grr-I'm-a-psycopath-and-I'm-going-to-slit-your-thr oat-in-your-sleep-maybe-you'll-never-know kinda thing without some heavy muscle to back it up. He's not a big guy, but hey, I think that's what makes it all the more interesting." Citra seemed uninterested. "Oh come on man, you gotta admit, The Joker's fucking hot right?"

Citra rubbed at her temple with the handle of Benny's knife and sighed. Yes, she was surprised Vaas had a woman in the ranks, and had even voiced her thoughts on the matter to the woman at hand, but she had not expected said woman to go on a random rant. The last thing Citra had said was that her brother's mind was gone, and somehow, the brunette had taken that as an initiative to start a story about imaginary people. "Enough!" she yelled, agitated maximally, and she gripped the knife in her hand.

"Alright," Benny said, shrinking away from the woman. She was quite moody.

Citra sighed again and shook her head, offering a rather condescending smirk that the brunette caught, and Benny narrowed her eyes slightly. "I must say, I've never met anyone like you before..."

"Oh don't, don't," Benny said, shaking her head. "I'm kinda tired of people saying that. Oh my God you're so different! Oh my God you're so not like anyone I've ever seen before! Oh my God! Seriously," she mumbled, eyes averting Citra's. "It's tiring. Like, seriously, omfg Batman, shut the hell up." She sighed heavily and flexed her fingers once again, trying to get the feeling back into them. She was half convinced they would fall off soon.

"Hm," was all the Rakyat woman had to say on that matter and she turned her attention to another man who made his presence known beside her. Benny eyed him up, noting he didn't necessarily look very native compared to the rest of the warriors, nor did he sound like them. First of all he was black...Benny eyed him up and down, from his bare feet to his rolled up jeans, to the tattoos adorning his arms to the green army jacket. _Huh, ya know, I really like that jacket._ His smirk was humorous as he approached Benny, his right hand graced with a layer of blood, and there were traces of it on his jacket and shirt as well. Benny watched nervously as the man approached and held his hand out before her eyes, something white and blood covered pressed between his thumb and finger. She squinted at the object as it was thrust into her face. Shit was that a tooth! Wait, no that was Vaas' tooth? Well now that she knew what had been going on over yonder...

"You pulled out his fucking tooth!" she exclaimed, eyes widening when the man pulled back the molar. "The hell was that for? Tryin' to make a quick buck with the Tooth Fairy, what?"

The dark skinned man only answered with a grin and a tilt of his head. There was shouting across the courtyard again and Benny took a glance over the man's shoulder, and was alerted when she saw one of their members sending a flurry of punches into Vaas' face, stomach, ribs and chest. As fun as it was to see the man tied up and defenseless, Benny, being Benny, decided to do something very, very stupid. "Hey!" she called out angrily, swinging her body slightly forward. The Rakyat man ceased in his actions, leaving Vaas to cough and sputter and glare, and he turned to the direction of the screeching woman. "You lay a hand on my man one more time and it's fuckin' on like Donkey Kong!" she threatened, surprising the two people before her. The Rakyat across the yard furrowed his brow in confusion. Was he being threatened by a woman? "I'm fuckin' serious, you best get your hammer ready cuz the barrels are comin!"

Perhaps calling Vaas her man, along with threatening a Rakyat warrior, was not the best decision, but, as we've established, Benny's not the greatest at judging when one should or should not speak. The events that followed were both painful and memorable.

Citra was grasping at her throat with a vice like grip, and Benny's lungs cried for air. She was growing weary of this bad girl game the American was playing and was ready to take that woman's knife, and plunge it into her body. Green eyes widened at the sudden fury behind those bright blue and Benny was legitimately worried. Great, she was going to fucking die. "You know," the native woman started, a malicious grin curling her lips, "I never thought that a woman would last so long on the island with Vaas. They usually die." She said the last part with a clever little hint and Benny gulped, at least as well as she could. She loosened her hold on the brunette's throat and Benny gulped in supple amounts of air. This dejavu thing was getting out of hand. "Is it because you are with him?" she said suggestively and Benny coughed before offering a smirk.

"Oh wouldn't you like to know," she said, waggling her eyebrows and giving a toothy grin. "What's the matter? Don't like anyone touching your brother hah?" She managed a giggle as a fury from hell grew inside of the native woman. "Well just wait till I tell you about all the wonderful things I do to him," she giggled again, and winked, and the woman was once again in her face, teeth bared like a wild animal's and eyes boring into her own with a distinct murder. Benny did the only logical thing she could think up. She pulled her head back, and relived her first meeting with Vaas, but this time, with his sister.

Citra was struck square in the forehead by the apparently thick skulled woman and she stumbled back, holding onto her aching cranium and growling irritably. The man beside her lunged forward and bashed his fist straight into Benny's jaw, sending her head reeling. _Ouch..._ The native tongue of the woman behind him halted him from sending any other unwanted beatings unto the brunette and he stepped aside, still glowering though at the American. Benny noticed several of the temples occupants gather around the scene, staring dumbfounded at the situation. Had this American woman just headbutted their leader? Why yes, indeed she had, and Citra ground out in their tongue, leaving Benny to wonder just what it was that woman was calling her. She was obviously calling her something, the way she glared at the brunette as she approached, Benny's knife clutched tightly in her hand.

Benny winced when the woman's slender fingers wrapped themselves tightly in her Mohawk, pulling tightly, causing pain to rack the brunette's nerves. Without any hesitation, Citra had the knife at Benny's stomach, the tip quickly slipping through the fabric of her shirt and she grimaced when she felt the sharp point slowly cut into her abdomen. The piercing pain soared up her body and she groaned out her displeasure, green eyes meeting those in-between hues of the Rakyat before her, and she sent silent threats her way.

Citra halted the knife before it could cause any serious damage, but the tip burned Benny's skin and sweat was quickly adorning her body from her body's fight to be rid of the foreign object imbedding itself inside of it. Blood started to leak from the wound, and it traveled down her abdomen, following the trail of the scar, and she clamped her mouth shut, doing her best to withstand this uncomfortable situation. It was when Citra's eyes cast down to the knife sticking to the brunette's abdomen, did Benny become honestly concerned. Citra's eyes went from the blood seeping from the woman's red shirt and traveled downward, to where it was leaking onto her belt. She pursed her lips as she removed her hand from the others hair and lifted up the hem of her shirt. Benny furrowed her brow angrily at the Rakyat when she brought her eyes back up to hers, widened in a sudden surprise that grabbed at Benny's curiosity.

The brunette felt the woman's fingers trace along the scar and she pulled away, allowing the knife to be pulled from it's bed inside of her stomach. _Fucking great, just fucking motherfucking great!_ "Stop fucking touching me," she warned, green eyes glaring angrily at the long haired woman, who seemed unfazed as she continued to trace her scar, up and down. Her wide eyes came back to Benny's once again, and the brunette scowled. "You had a child..."

Benny's anger seemed to dissipate quickly turning to a sudden shock, green eyes widening to the point where they might have popped from their sockets, and her scowl dispersed. What...her head was suddenly flooded with memories that pounded at her skull, her headache threatening to burst from her head and cover the ground in brain matter. Images of dark skinned Iraqi soldiers, of a scarred leader, of a young dark skinned man with curling black hair and gentle eyes, of dark evil eyes, of flashing lights, of strangled yells, of a serrated blade as it plunged into her swollen belly, of a baby's wail... She grit her teeth and flinched away from the woman, growling and pulling herself up in her bonds to send a strong kick into the woman's jaw. However Citra knew, Benny was sure, but she certainly felt like killing her now.

The woman lifted herself up with the rope and kicked at the nearest charging Rakyat, her boot connecting well with his chin and sending him backpedaling into another. That was the best Benny did though, for that dark skinned man with Vaas' tooth grabbed at her body from behind and held her in place as Citra recovered, rubbing at her now throbbing jaw and glaring intently at the other woman. She approached quickly, digging a thumb into the shallow knife wound in Benny's stomach, causing a massive groan to escape the woman's lips, and she clenched her teeth, breathing heavily from the inflicting pain. "So you wish to share my brother's life," Citra stated with a tiny smirk, eyes taking over an emotion Benny couldn't place and she felt the man's arm wrap around her neck.

"So what," she said, daring. It may have been the stupidest thing she had done in her whole month of living on this island. Much stupider than aggravating an irate Vaas. Because she felt the tip of the blade on the side of her head.

"If you wish to share his life, then you can share his scars." It was enough to tell Benny just what exactly she had gotten herself into, and she cried out when the knife started to slice through her flesh.

Meanwhile Vaas had his legs wrapped tightly around his assaulting Rakyat, choking the life out of the poor distracted man who had only turned when he heard the screams of the woman pirate. Vaas rose his legs up on the warrior's neck, and grunting with the effort, kicked his feet around, a snap sounding from the warrior's neck as it quickly broke. "Holy rusted metal, Batman," Mango muttered, staring wide eyed at what his leader had just done. "You broke his neck with your fucking legs! How come you never did that before?"

"Haven't been in a position to lately," the pirate lord answered, his fingers making quick work of the ropes with the razor. His face stung with the cuts and bruises it had acquired and his mouth burned, his ribs bruising to an agonizing state. His mind was also reeling with strange thoughts, such as Benny pulling a completely stupid maneuver by calling him her 'man'. Did she have any idea of who she was dealing with? Citra was 125 pounds of crazy and wouldn't hesitate to slash the woman across the face, especially if she mentioned him. There was a certain vendetta there that annoyed Vaas for the most part.

In seconds, the rope was cut, and Vaas landed with a grunt and, scanning his eyes around the temple, was thankful that the Rakyat were distracted, if only for a few seconds. He stumbled over to Mango and quickly undid his bindings. "Get the guns," he ordered. "I'll get Benny." And Vaas sprinted off across the courtyard, leaving Mango rather surprised. He was curious as to why Vaas suddenly felt the need to rescue Benny, but it could have been because he wanted to go after his sister...either way, Mango darted to their pile of belongings, quickly taking the pistols from their holsters and slinging the belts and knife-filled sheaths over his shoulder as he followed after Vaas.

The pirate lord ran at a speed that rivaled the island's wildlife and several Rakyat men were put off by not only his escape, but his ability to run in his battered state. He pushed past the tattooed men and hurled towards Citra, wrapping an arm harshly around her neck before Dennis could even alert the woman. The action caused Citra's hand to slip, sending the blade slicing down over Benny's right eye and down her cheek, elicting various cries and groans from the woman. Vaas had his free hand quickly wrapped around his sister's wrist, the knife in her hand being pulled up to her throat as Vaas fought her to the ground, pinning her body down underneath his on the grassy earth. He screamed at the men around him, ordering them to back off unless they wanted to see their warrior goddess' throat cut open. That, and Mango's appearance with two pistols loaded and ready to shoot anyone who dared cross his path, halted the Rakyat from doing anything rash.

Benny groaned pitifully in her position, blood seeping over the right side of her head and down her face, flooding into her eye and leaking into her mouth. "Vaasco," she groaned, wincing at the pain of moving her jaw. "You're sister's a bitch."

"Tell me about it," the pirate lord grumbled, sending a series of death threats to the muddled mass of warriors. He swore at them, yelled at them, and threatened them, sliding the knife ever closer to his sister's jugular. Benny could make out his speech, but not his language. She could only think to herself though _of course he's trilingual you dolt. What part of being a former member of the native tribe do you not understand._ When only a few of the men moved to his order—these ones being the most fearful and cowardly towards their former leader—and Vaas dug the knife further against Citra's skin. "Tell your fucking dogs to back off or I'll have Mango do it for me," he growled into her ear, sending a glance to the armed Filipino beside him, arms stretched out at his sides, guns ready to fire. Citra lifted her chin up high, challenging her older brother, but she carried out the order, and the men backed away, Mango's guns following them every step they made, one trained particularly on Dennis, who glowered at the both of them.

"Mango get Benny," Vaas told the boy, and after a moments hesitation, the Filipino made his way over to his bleeding comrade, grimacing at the sight of the gash running along the right side of her head as he undid her bonds. She collapsed beside him, arm clinging desperately to his shoulders but he wasn't a very strong kid. He weighed a whopping 118 pounds soaking wet; he couldn't carry this fucking woman! He lay her to sit by his feet as he pulled his bandana off, quickly pushing it against the woman's wound and wrapping it around her head, eyes darting from every man in the vicinity, one gun still trained before him.

"Citra, Citra, Citra, Citra," he mused into his sister's ear, ever present smirk upon his lips. "When will you ever fucking learn?" he chuckled above her and then turned his attention to Mango and Benny, the woman uttering many a curse word and groan as she held her head in her arms, blood quickly coating the flesh of her body and rose an eyebrow at the site. What the hell was Citra trying to prove by doing this? No doubt Benny had gotten herself into this situation. She was well versed in being a complete idiot at times. "How bad is it?" he asked, eyes darkening when they came upon Dennis, the man's stature tensed and ready to attack should Vaas lower his guard. The fucker was as stupid as Benny.

"She's bleeding pretty bad," Mango said, gun raised to the tense Dennis. If any of the Rakyat were to make a move, it would be Dennis. He was well protective of their woman leader and Mango recalled the feel of his hard knuckles on his face from previous events. "We need to go," Mango urged, an energy flushing through his arms and to his trigger fingers. He much preferred the pistols to assault rifles. They were lighter and quicker, not to mention he felt more badass with two pistols than he did one big AK.

"Where's the walkie?" Vaas asked, fingers itching to end his sister's life here and now, but a force in the back of his mind preventing him from doing so.

"I couldn't find it. It's either still in the truck or you lost it in the river."

"Fuck," Vaas growled, rubbing at his bleeding temple. So much for a pick up. His body was aching something bad and the only thing keeping him from passing out was his adrenaline rush, which could end at any time. "Benny can you walk?"

"I don't know...maybe...fuck." She cringed when the stinging pain assaulted her once again and gripped her wounded head tightly.

Vaas gave an exasperated sigh and tightened his hold on the knife, reminding the woman beneath him who was at the advantage. "Alright little sister, here's the deal. You're gonna let us walk out that door," he said, nodding to the stairs leading to the stone corridor which would then lead to their salvation. "And I won't have my young friend over here unload a clip into every one of your little cronies, okay?"

Citra's nostrils flared with agitation and when she didn't answer, she felt her brother's strong arms wrap around her body and haul to her feet, knife still in place at her neck as he brought her to a standing position in front of him. "Let me rephrase that," the pirate said with a sick humor. "Mango."

He only needed to say his name, and the Filipino boy sent a bullet straight through the air to implant itself into the brain of one of the surrounding men. He fell in a second and Mango's fingers itched to impale another of these crazy assholes with a bullet. Mango's blood heated his body with the surge of energy coursing in his veins and he silently wished for one of the men to step up and attack, just so he could shoot him dead.

"Now," Vaas said, returning to growl into his sister's ear. "You are going to let us walk through that door, aren't you?"

Citra stood strong, but seeing the brown haired woman now adorning a wound similar to Vaas' brought a tiny smile to her lips and she spoke to the warriors, giving out Vaas' order. "Citra," Dennis moved to interject but the sudden feel of a bullet piercing through his thigh sent him toppling to the ground beneath him, crying out at the sudden pain and holding a hand tightly over the wound. Mango stood beside Benny, his gun now two bullets less and he kept it trained on the darker man, the other gun on the rest of the Rakyat. He glowered down at the African man with a snarl and sending a "if you move, I will seriously go Lara Croft on your ass" threat his way. Should the man move, he wouldn't hesitate to shoot again, and this time he'd be aiming for a more fatal blow.

The surrounding men parted away from the pirates, emotions zipping across their faces from one to the other. They thought this a foolish idea, but Citra's word was law, and they backed away from their enemies, slowly and hesitantly. "Vaas I can't carry Benny," Mango stated, still aiming his guns around the men, the woman below him whining and groaning and cursing and at times letting out a loud 'fuck!'.

Vaas scoffed. Of course. "I'll be seeing you, little sister," he whispered murderously into her ear and in one swift motion, cut the blade across her neck and pushed her away, sending the woman stumbling to her knees. She ground out curses in his direction, holding a hand to her bleeding neck. Vaas hadn't attempted a kill, but she seemed unsurprised. Citra's eyes narrowed angrily at her older sibling as he approached the bleeding Benny, hauling the woman to her feet and wrapping an arm around her waist. The three made their way to the temple's exit, Vaas sending glares and snickers to the men as they parted around them. Dennis limped past Citra, but she grabbed his wrist, stopping him in his tracks. The man looked down at the woman worriedly, and glared back at the pirates, mainly Vaas.

Vaas could feel Citra's cold stare on his back, and his shoulders tensed when her voice sounded behind him, echoing through the air to pierce his eardrums in a patronizing way. "You could have died a powerful warrior," he sang to him, rising to her feet and holding her head high, blood trickling from the cut on her neck to slip down to her chest.

The pirate halted, Mango stammering about the man's actions, and he kept the pistols ready as his leader, woman in hand, turned back to the Rakyat, his eyes going from murderous to humorous in an instant, though the former emotion was still hinting behind the latter. "Yeah, or I could die a free man," he countered with a smirk and made to leave when his sister's voice sounded once again, and he grumbled.

"As long as you are with _him,_ " she seethed, "you will never be free."

Vaas halted once again, eyes darting around the ground and his nostrils flared with a sudden anger and he turned around in an about face manner, Benny dangling from his arms and moaning into his chest. He felt the warm blood drench his shirt and seep through to his skin, and he readjusted the woman, sending a killer glare to his sister. His body was weakening, and he managed to hide the adrenaline crash well behind murderous stares. "If I _ever_ see any of your useless warrior fucks again, I will personally gut each and every one of them," he threatened, and brought a hand up, fingers twitching. "And the next time I see _you,_ " he groaned, twitching his fingers near his temple, "I will not hesitate to put a bullet through your fucking skull." And his fingers flicked at his temple, animating to Citra what he would do with a silent promise. He huffed a snort and they moved quickly through the temple doors and once outside, Vaas gave the order to run. If Citra wanted to keep him alive, she'd need to try something other than ropes and pliers.

Benny's head was throbbing in an explosive way and she could feel the blood slipping through her fingers and into her eyes and mouth and ear. She could feel Vaas' arm muscles tense and twitch under her back and she could hear his heart pumping against his chest. She grit her teeth in the pain and wondered what the fuck Citra was thinking, what the fuck did she want with her? Granted Benny may have said some things that maybe angered the woman, some of them not even true, but still, the woman could have just killed her. Not only that, Vaas could have just left her there. After all, she was just another pirate lackey, right?

Benny was blind to the world, and she could only identify things through sounds. Vaas' cursing, Mango's heavy breathing, their boots as they stomped through the jungle floor, sticks snapping, leaves crunching, animals calling, and suddenly a gunshot. Mango cursed when he pulled the trigger. He hadn't necessarily meant to fire the weapon, he had just forgotten to remove his finger from the trigger when he tripped over a large tree root in their mad dash through the jungle. Benny heard his voice ring out Vaas' name, and then that down home country romance novel voice fluttering around her face and she felt the Texan's strong arms wrap around her body. "Don't worry, darlin'." Scotty's voice was like an angel singing in her ear and she was thankful for his soft words compared to Vaas' constant anger bursts. She still wondered though...why the fuck was she still alive? There was a sudden peace, but her head still throbbed, and her world was quickly becoming a far off memory as she felt herself slipping from reality.

Her subconscious couldn't think of a damn thing to say.

XXX

**Author's Note:**

> So...what'd'ya think?


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